Two Democrat state senators in California have introduced legislation that would block law enforcement officers in the state from wearing face masks while on the job, ABC News reported.
The legislation, Senate Bill 627, was introduced by Sens. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Jesse Arreguin of Oakland. Arreguin is the former mayor of Berkeley.
Wiener posted on X: "We're seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing & disappearing people. It's antithetical to democracy & harms communities. The No Secret Police Act can help end the fear & chaos this behavior creates in communities."
In a separate post, he wrote, "We're announcing new legislation — the No Secret Police Act (SB 627) — to ban local/state/federal law enforcement, w/ some exceptions, from covering their faces when interacting w/ the public & require them to wear identifying info.
"Secret police behavior tanks trust & must end."
On Monday, Arreguin said the legislation would ensure transparency and improve accountability for local and federal law enforcement officers, KTVU reported. He also said the legislation was intended to help protect officers from potential impersonators.
Last week, Wiener issued a statement that, according to his office, was in response to President Donald Trump's actions and comments regarding immigration protests in California.
"San Francisco's leadership is united in our commitment to protect the hard-working immigrants and workers who make our city and our state run. They can threaten us all they want — we will not back down from protecting our immigrant neighbors, the statement read.
KTVU reported that the California Police Chiefs Association and California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, and the Oakland Police Department had not responded to requests for comment.
In reply to Wiener's post, Linda Rarey posted, "Gee, I wonder how that started? Oh yeah, masked protestors doxxing LEOs [law enforcement officers] and threatening to harm their families for doing their jobs."
"Doxxing" is the term used to describe the act of publicly identifying or publishing private personal information about people online without their permission.
The Gateway Pundit reported last week about an account on X that had posted personal information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents involved in enforcement work in California.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.