The California State Assembly passed a bill that criminalizes law enforcement officers wearing masks as part of his or her duties.
According to SB 627, the “routine use of facial coverings by law enforcement officers has significant implications for public perception, officer-community interactions, and accountability.” Facial coverings may cause members of the public to “experience fear or intimidation when approached by officers whose faces are obscured” and “may lead to misinterpretation of tone or intent.”
Exemptions to the face covering policy include active undercover operations, tactical operations, laws governing health and safety, and protection of identity during prosecution, the legislation explains.
California Highway Patrol officers are also exempted from the measure.
“It’s not local law enforcement that’s engaging in those tactics,” Jason Salazar, the President of the California Police Chiefs Association, told KCRA. “Our officers are following the law through good law enforcement and trying to provide public safety to our communities. This bill makes it harder to do that.”
SB 627, which passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee in July, is co-sponsored by State Senator Scott Weiner (D).
“The ICE masked secret police are raining terror on communities across California, and it has to stop. Law enforcement should never be easily confused with the guy in the ski mask robbing a liquor store, yet that’s what’s happening with ICE’s extreme masking behavior,” Weiner said. “ICE’s brazenly illegal conduct — including straight up racial profiling by masked, unidentified agents — is undermining public safety, creating extreme fear, and destroying confidence in law enforcement. If we want the public to trust law enforcement, we cannot allow any officer of the law to behave like secret police in an authoritarian state.”
