this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025

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Proposed bill would ban ICE agents, law enforcement from wearing masks in California (www.latimes.com)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

97 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

(page 2) 49 comments

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 day ago

Good... personal freedom and all that

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago (8 children)

How would they enforce this, if they can’t identify the people violating it?

[–] outhouseperilous 2 points 1 day ago

They would not. You would.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

Rifles in hand, ideally

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

How can they prosecute someone who fights back when the person they fought was wearing a mask? It would be self defence.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

there are exceptions and there is "encouragement" to wear identification. this will do nothing.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

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[+] [email protected] -17 points 1 day ago (5 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

They will absolutely claim they need it for protection from Covid. And it all of a sudden won’t hinder their breathing at all.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Which would be obnoxiously ironic, considering how police unions fought tooth and nail against mask mandates during the pandemic. Fucking idiots.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

While counting COVID fatalities as deaths in the line of duty.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

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."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Smoke inhalation too, because of smoke grenades and flashbangs

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago

And theres the problem of frequent blood spatter. College kids and old people bleed a lot.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

And lead at an indoor shooting range. Some of the fashiest doorknob-licking motherfuckers imaginable will still don a respirator for range time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

flashbang

I hate breathing crib fumes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Is there a reason why SWAT gets a general exception?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

Tactical breaching equipment has head and facial protection on just about everything.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

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.

[–] outhouseperilous 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

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

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

Maybe they shouldn’t be committing war crimes on civilians.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

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

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