[ad_1]
Los Angeles County leaders want to prohibit law enforcement officials from hiding their identity while they are on duty.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted between 4 and 0 for one abstention, directing county lawyers to draft an ordinance that prohibits officers, including federal agents, from wearing masks, with limited exceptions such as medical protection. Officers must also display their identification and agency affiliation in public places in a visible way.
Since early June, immigration agents have flocked to Southern California, arresting hundreds of people, urging protests against federal attacks and subsequent deployment of the National Guard and Marines. Approximately half of the security forces and all Marines have been pulled out of LA in recent weeks.
Co-authored the allegations, coach Janice Hahn said the attacks committed by the Trump administration caused fear and residents have the right to know who is stopping them, questioning them and detaining them.
“Across the county, people are being pulled out of cars, beaten, torn from their families by men in tactical gear without balaclava, badges, or names,” Hearn said. “It’s not how law enforcement works in democracy.”
File – Federal Agent Stage at MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Damiand Balgagen, File) Federal immigration agents (Instagram/@cameramanoscar) seen in a violent struggle with men in Pico Rivera on June 17, 2025, shout at federal immigration agents in the agricultural area of Camarillo, California.
Hearn admitted it is unclear whether the county will be able to enforce the law regarding actions by U.S. immigration customs and other federal agencies. “In the end, it may have to be decided by the court,” she said.
Legal scholar Irwin Kemerinsky said Tuesday that the courts will need to determine whether the ordinance is obstructing its ability to perform its duties.
“They have to apply to all law enforcement agencies. They cannot apply to federal law enforcement agencies,” said Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley Law School.
Executives defended the practices of mask-wearing officers and said they faced harassment when immigration agents enforce their actions. Officials said the agents are hiding their identities for safety to avoid death threats and doxing.
“If you’re angry at people wearing masks, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to get cops or agents out there and put their lives on the line.
The state legislature will prohibit local, state and federal police from covering their faces while they run operations in California. And similar bills were introduced into the US Congress by California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla and New Jersey’s Corey Booker.
Chemerinsky said the advantage of federal law is “clearly constitutional” because it has the power to regulate how federal law enforcement operates.
County attorneys have 60 days to submit draft ordinances to the board for approval.
Director Hilda Solis, another co-author of the measure, said local officials must set expectations about how law enforcement will act within the county.
“Refusing to show masks, tactical gear and identification is not only surprising confusion, but also erodes public trust and raises serious safety concerns,” Solis said.
[ad_2]Source link
