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.
I don’t understand how it’s even legal right now.
Why would they need exceptions?
Only really practical exception I can think of is when responding to fires or hazardous chemical releases (not caused by them just chucking teargas all over the place) or when working in hospitals or other indoor locations where there is an extremely high likelihood of encountering someone who is immunocompromised since they probably aren’t up to date on their shots.
In these situations, other forms of identification should be incredibly prominently visible.
Edit for the latter since I know I’m gonna get “whatabouts”: officer should be performing roles that necessitate their presence and are providing safety against clear and present threats, e.g., protection details, wellness checks, or collecting evidence. Not deporting children with leukemia or some such vile fuckery.
Why not just… uhhh. Ban ICE.
deleted by creator
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.
Well, germany was pretty fond of one if their undercover cops for a few years.
It went badly though.
Officers in my area wear face coverings when doing drug or gang related warrants to protect against retaliation.
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
And suddenly, all ICE agents are deemed undercover agents, plus with medical need to wear masks
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.
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.
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
And theres the problem of frequent blood spatter. College kids and old people bleed a lot.
Ya
flashbang
I hate breathing crib fumes
And lead at an indoor shooting range. Some of the fashiest doorknob-licking motherfuckers imaginable will still don a respirator for range time.
They will absolutely claim they need it for protection from Covid. And it all of a sudden won’t hinder their breathing at all.
Which would be obnoxiously ironic, considering how police unions fought tooth and nail against mask mandates during the pandemic. Fucking idiots.
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.
Full gasmask and helmet with a photo of the officer. Require a distinctive pose in the photo by each member of a department for easy identification by face-blind folks. This reveals the officers’ anime preferences and thereby lets the public know levels of threat.
And let’s get an exhale filter on that gas mask, because during the pandemic is now. Every broken chain of transmission is still valuable, especially for vulnerable persons targeted by cops.
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.
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
Maybe they shouldn’t be committing war crimes on civilians.
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
Cold does not apply. This is california. Park rangers might sometimes need to go places where you need more than a light jacket, but no other cop ever will.
A cop does not ever need a gas mask.
They can simply choose to not deploy gas.
They’re not running into fucking burning buildings. Nobody else uses gas munitions. Gas is a terror weapon.
Edit: also coast guard. Pacific can get pretty cold.
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
Masks both prevent oxygen from reaching your lungs and cannot stop COVID particles from entering them. Make it make sense.
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.
Watch even thus tepid shit not pass.
I’m not sure how this is related to the TLC
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…”
Removed by mod
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
Good. Let the cowards face their victims
It has a carve-out for medical masks, so get ready for ICE to abuse the shit out of that if it passes.
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.
They would not. You would.
deleted by creator
Good… personal freedom and all that
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.
I think it should be assumed, just because.
A face can be seen, recognized and recorded from a distance. Video doesn’t usually do any good with badges and other identification but cops and criminals both - or one and the same - risk being identified if they don’t have masks.
Sets a precedent against masking in general. As someone who still wants to avoid public infectious diseases like covid, flu, birdflu, and now measles, it makes us look like we’re trying to hide while we are just trying to protect ourselves with PPE.
I dunno why he had to go with a Star wars reference. Nazi brownshirts were literally called stormtroopers. Seems a more apt comparison.
Because people dont read history text books… They know star wars, they dont know details about what happened in Germany in the late 1930s, if they did, we would not be in this situation…
Also stormtroopers were ripping their name from WW1 shocktroopers, they ran through the storm of bullet and thunder of artillery. Though it should be noted that some Nazi stormtroopers were actual WW1 stormtroopers, it should be noted that as a venn diagram it wasn’t a single circle.
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.
You should not be under any obligation to assume or respect any proposed authority by a person unwilling to show you their face.
Explaining this to the guy with a badge and a mask shoving a gun in my face.
He’s screaming and cocking the weapon, while a few of his friends approach me with tasers and clubs, but I’m just going to stand here waving a copy of John Locke’s Social Contract while explaining that I am a Free Man On The Land and do not make joinder.
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.
I agree, but there’s a difference between oversight and law enforcement there. If I am telling someone they need to justify restrictions in a behavior plan, that’s different than something for which someone else may be arrested. In the former example, I think they should be able to wear an N95 for health reasons.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
Banning it/them simultaneously goes too far and not far enough. Instead, explicitly legalize self-defense against anyone that fails or refuses to identify and validate their identity while performing official activities. Turn hiding your face and badge number into literal suicide.
deleted by creator
I always see these news of proposals. Wake me up when these proposals are have actually been legislated.
It’s insane that it wasn’t required from the start.
