In response to immigration raids by masked federal officers in Los Angeles and across the nation, two California lawmakers on Monday proposed a new state law to ban members of law enforcement from concealing their faces while on the job.
The bill would make it a misdemeanor for local, state and federal law enforcement officers to cover their faces with some exceptions, and also encourage them to wear a form of identification on their uniform.
“We’re really at risk of having, effectively, secret police in this country,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), co-author of the bill.
You should not be under any obligation to assume or respect any proposed authority by a person unwilling to show you their face.
This sentence should not need to be spoken.
Conversely, I should not be required to show my face to anyone if I’m not trying to assert authority over them. Being a public servant means having a public identity, being a private citizen means you have the freedom to make choices about what you share.
Good. Let the cowards face their victims
Encourage them to wear identification? ENCOURAGE them?!? How that is not and has not always been mandatory is beyond me.
Wearing masks isn’t the issue, it’s the lack of warrants and identification.
Yep. There’s a non-zero chance that maga civilians are dressing tactical and kidnapping people they believe shouldn’t be here. I hope not, but there’s really no way to know either way at this point.
“Oh? You want to “detain” my student/employee/friend/partner? You have to prove you’re a law enforcement official and are legally-allowed to.”
If that sounds unreasonable to anyone… you’re the extremist.
It’s totally reasonable, but it’ll probably also get you deported to El Salvador. Or at the very least beat.
This should also include identification on vehicles.
None of this unmarked pickup truck or white van bullshit.
This includes the “ghost letter” bullshit. They claim it’s so they can blend in and catch violations as they happen. Bro everyone can see a cop driving from a mile away by the way they drive, the reinforced grill, the slightly beefier trim to hide the installed lights, etc.
Oh you mean pre-crime, we absolutely need to violate your rights to prevent pre-crime.
If this law is enacted, the Supreme Court will say that states can’t frustrate the operations of federal agents with these sorts of laws. Chief Justice Roberts will write the opinion and compare it to giving states the power to ban bulletproof vests from being worn by federal law enforcement and call it “a step from anarchy”. Clarence Thomas will then write a concurring opinion saying that federal agents acting on orders from the president should actually be immune for any type of civil or criminal liability for any of their actions, lawful or not.
Then, when a Democratic president takes office the court will walk it back and say “well, actually, there’s this exception, and this exception, and that exception…”
Then, when a Democratic president takes office the court will walk it back and say “well, actually, there’s this exception, and this exception, and that exception…”
Or they won’t, because the Dem president will simply “not abuse such powers” due to their “adherence to decorum”.
The SC made the president god-king while Biden was in office.
Stop hogging the time machine, give someone else a chance to document inevitable future
Stop listening to the supreme court.
This might come as a shock to most people, but literally nothing the supreme court says is legally-binding.
This has to pass. And other states need to follow suit. It’s ridiculous any law enforcement can hide who they are unless they’re undercover.
The thin blue line is how much responsibility they’re willing to accept. And it’s a very very thin line right now.
Has an undercover cop ever really benefited the people?
I’d love to be corrected on this, but when it comes to cops, I’ma doubt that real fucking fast.
Doesn’t matter if it passes. The president doesn’t abide by the law, so they don’t need to either.
Plus, who is going to enforce it, cops? Lol
Good… personal freedom and all that
How would they enforce this, if they can’t identify the people violating it?
Stop anyone with a mask attempting to do ICE stuff.
Who will do the stopping?
Unarmed citizens, apparently, have the guts. Do law enforcement?
Rifles in hand, ideally
How can they prosecute someone who fights back when the person they fought was wearing a mask? It would be self defence.
wrong comment
there are exceptions and there is “encouragement” to wear identification. this will do nothing.
The exceptions are actually logical not broad. The only questionable exception that seems open to abuse is “health reasons”.
But the ones we need to be worried about can’t read anyway.
The only questionable exception that seems open to abuse is “health reasons”.
Brought to you by the “I can’t breathe in a mask, COVID isn’t real” crowd
Has anyone even said “thank you” to democratic leaders? pretending to do something while accomplishing nothing meaningful at all takes a lot of work and skill.
I’m not sure how this is related to the TLC
I get it for that balaclava stuff, which doesn’t have a lot of functional use unless it’s very cold.
But cops are gonna sometimes need to wear a gas mask, and that’s gonna obscure features.
Fuck em. Tear gas is on outlawed war weapon. They should have been jailed for it’s use.
I don’t care what reason a cop has anymore. They are liars all of them trained and required to be. That right there takes a certain lack of care for fellow humans
So cops and law enforcement as they are currently practiced are as big a threat as trump.
Until they turn on trump, they are complicit
That’s one of the main exceptions mentioned in the article:
Under the proposal, law enforcement officials would be exempted from the mask ban if they serve on a SWAT team or if a mask is necessary for medical or health reasons, including to prevent smoke inhalation.
But I can see the claim of “health reasons” being abused.
They will absolutely claim they need it for protection from Covid. And it all of a sudden won’t hinder their breathing at all.
Then they should only be allowed to wear a full gasmask or a standard medical mask in those engagements.
None of this balaclava shit.
Make them uncomfortable or hypocrates.
Oh, and regardless of when they are wearing a mask or not, they need to have their ID number printed clearly visible on their helmets, their vests (back and front), and their pants.
Which would be obnoxiously ironic, considering how police unions fought tooth and nail against mask mandates during the pandemic. Fucking idiots.
if a mask is necessary
I’m not sure if this will be the case, but does that cover the case where they’re the reason? Because that’s one way to ensure escalation to “tear gas on hand, everywhere, at all times.”
Smoke inhalation too, because of smoke grenades and flashbangs
Ya
flashbang
I hate breathing crib fumes
And theres the problem of frequent blood spatter. College kids and old people bleed a lot.
Is there a reason why SWAT gets a general exception?
Tactical breaching equipment has head and facial protection on just about everything.
It’s likely phrased in the law as closer to while serving on a swat team, as in they’re actively wearing a ballistic face shield and gas mask for legitimate reasons.
It’s a prime opportunity for things to get lost in translation between the law, the person talking to the press, and the report.
Maybe they shouldn’t be committing war crimes on civilians.
Whoopsie daisy, looks like we all need to wear gas masks today boys! Our buddy in forensics says there’s totally a legitimate risk today, so the gas masks gotta come out
