A pair of lawmakers in California are seeking to ban law enforcement officers in the state from wearing face coverings, amid protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
State Sens. Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguin — Democratic lawmakers from San Francisco and Oakland, respectively — announced Monday that they would be filing SB 627 to ban local, state and federal law enforcement from covering their faces when interacting with the public.
The legislation, dubbed the No Secret Police Act, would also require law enforcement officers to wear identifying information, Wiener wrote in a post on X.
“Secret police behavior tanks trust & must end,” Wiener wrote.
During a press conference outside San Francisco City Hall on Monday, Wiener said that “secret police” were “grabbing” people off the street, Fox San Francisco affiliate KTVU reported.
Exemptions to the bill would include SWAT teams and officers who wear medical masks during natural disasters, such as wildfires, the lawmakers said. Clear riot gear would also be permitted, since they are see-through.
The bill intends to ensure transparency and accountability for law enforcement as well as protect them and the public from potential impersonators, Arreguin said.
The proposed legislation comes amid several days of protests in Los Angeles over the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The protests prompted President Donald Trump deploy National Guard troops without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Los Angeles Police Department made zero arrests on Sunday night, the first day with no arrests since the protests broke out on June 6.
Wiener referenced the immigration raids under the Trump administration when introducing the bill, The San Francisco Standard reported.
“The recent federal operations in California have created an environment of profound terror,” Wiener said, according to the local publication. “If we want the public to trust law enforcement, we cannot allow them to behave like secret police in an authoritarian state.”
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