Supervisors Vote to Bar Law Enforcement from Wearing Masks, Concealing Identities

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Dec. 2 took a first vote to approve an ordinance to prohibit law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing masks or concealing their identities when conducting law enforcement business in unincorporated LA County. 

“This is how authoritarian secret police behave — not legitimate law enforcement in a democracy. ICE agents are violating our residents’ rights every day they are on our streets. These agents hide their faces. They refuse to wear badges. They pull people into unmarked vans at gunpoint and wonder why people resist arrest,” said Supervisor Hahn. “We are declaring in no uncertain terms that in LA County, police do not hide their faces.  That is our expectation, and this ordinance will now make it our law.”

If approved the ordinance will:

1. Prohibit all law enforcement, including local, state, and federal, from wearing masks or personal disguises while interacting with the public in the course of their duties in unincorporated LA County; and
2. Require that all law enforcement, including local, state, and federal, wear visible identification and agency affiliation while interacting with the public in the course of their duties in unincorporated LA County

Read the full text of the ordinance here.

Supervisor Hahn and Supervisor Horvath rallied with supporters from across the county at a press conference in front of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration ahead of the board meeting. They were joined by immigrant rights organizations like CHIRLA, Centro CHA, the TransLatina Coalition, and the Filipino Migrant Center, and grass roots groups who have been documenting ICE activity and wrongdoing since June – including the Harbor Area Peace Patrols and the Long Beach Rapid Response Network.

This proposed Los Angeles County ordinance differs slightly from the recently passed State of California law. Unlike the state law, the county ordinance would apply to state law enforcement such as California Highway Patrol. 

The proposed County ordinance also incorporates additional pre-approved exceptions which were crafted in consultation with local law enforcement including medical masks, breathing apparatuses, motorcycle helmets when riding a motorcycle, SWAT teams, and active undercover operations.

The motion passed on a 4–0 vote, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstaining. A required second vote on adopting the ordinance will be held next week, on Dec. 9. If it is approved, it will go into effect 30 days after the second vote.