Masked and Unidentifiable: The Risks of Federal Law Enforcement Operating Without Identification

[Heidi]

•In fact, the practice of masking and hiding identifiers can jeopardize the safety of ICE and other federal law enforcement officers by making it harder for other officers or community members to identify them as law enforcement and interact with them accordingly.

•…federal law enforcement officers who carry out their jobs with their faces covered or without properly identifying themselves can create serious safety concerns for law enforcement and community members alike.

•Masking instills fear in communities, undermines trust between residents and law enforcement and hinders accountability. It limits the cooperation between law enforcement and communities that officers rely on to do their jobs. These types of intimidation tactics are also a common tool of authoritarians who seek to stifle dissenting voices and quell opposition to their agenda.

•People with insidious motives have taken advantage of the widespread deployment of masked immigration officers as cover to allegedly harass civilians or commit violent crimes such as kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault…

•Without knowledge of the agency or individual officers who are engaging in enforcement in their communities, there is no way for people to report or hold officers accountable for unprofessional behavior or misconduct, even in instances that may involve violence or illegal activity.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/masked-and-unidentifiable-the-risks-of-federal-law-enforcement-operating-without-identification/