{"id":77709,"date":"2025-12-02T11:46:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77709"},"modified":"2025-12-02T11:46:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:46:15","slug":"los-angeles-county-supervisors-vote-to-bar-law-enforcement-from-wearing-masks-concealing-identities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=77709","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles County Supervisors Vote to Bar Law Enforcement from Wearing Masks, Concealing Identities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf this leads to a fight with the federal government in the courts, I think it is a fight worth having.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Hahn,<\/p>\n

Supervisor Hahn, Supervisor Horvath, and supporters rally outside of the Hall of Administration ahead of vote on ordinance<\/p>\n

Los Angeles, CA<\/strong> \u2013 Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took a first vote to approve an ordinance proposed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how authoritarian secret police behaves \u2014 not legitimate law enforcement in a democracy. ICE agents are violating our residents\u2019 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,\u201d\u00a0said Supervisor Hahn.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe are declaring in no uncertain terms that in LA County, police do not hide their faces.\u00a0 That is our expectation, and this ordinance will now make it our law.\u201d<\/p>\n

If approved the ordinance will:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Prohibit all law enforcement, including local, state, and federal, from wearing masks or personal disguises<\/strong>\u00a0while interacting with the public in the course of their duties in unincorporated LA County; and<\/li>\n
  2. Require that all law enforcement, including local, state, and federal, wear visible identification<\/strong>\u00a0and agency affiliation while interacting with the public in the course of their duties in unincorporated LA County<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cFor months, federal officers have taken actions that erode the trust of our communities\u2014so much so that Los Angeles County is now under a declared state of emergency,\u201d said\u00a0Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cToday, we are taking a necessary step toward restoring transparency. Los Angeles County is ending anonymous policing in our neighborhoods. If you carry the power of a badge here, you must be visible, accountable, and identifiable to the people you serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"Supervisor<\/p>\n

    Photo credit: Martin Zamora<\/p>\n

    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 \u2013 including the Harbor Area Peace Patrols and the Long Beach Rapid Response Network.<\/p>\n

    Hahn has been clear that she expects this ordinance will be challenged by the Trump Administration, which has already filed a lawsuit against the State of California over a similar law.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis is about defending the constitutional rights of the people we represent,\u201d\u00a0said Hahn.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe cannot stand down now and allow this type of policing to be acceptable in America. So, if this means a fight in the courts with the federal government, I think it is a fight worth having.\u201d<\/p>\n

    This proposed Los Angeles County ordinance differs slightly from the recently passed State of California law.\u00a0 Unlike the state law, the county ordinance would apply to state law enforcement such as California Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    The motion passed on a 4\u20130 vote, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstaining. A required second vote on adopting the ordinance will be held next week, on December 9th. If it is approved, it will go into effect 30 days after the second vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cIf this leads to a fight...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77710,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77709\/revisions\/77710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}