(The Center Square) – During a recent public hearing before the Senate Law & Justice Committee, Washington state lawmakers debated a bill that would limit when police officers can cover their faces.
Senate Bill 5855 adds a new section to current state law, which already requires law enforcement officers to be clearly identifiable by wearing a name tag or badge, and generally prohibits officers from wearing any type of face covering while performing their duties.
The new section would prohibit local, state, and federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks while interacting with the public, with certain exceptions, including while working as undercover operatives and acting as members of the Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, team. It would also allow a person detained by an unlawfully masked local or state officer to sue that officer in their official capacity.
SB 5855 comes in response to recent tensions and protests over arrests made by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officers.
“We’re all aware of incidents that started occurring last year where we started seeing law enforcement officers throughout the country where they were bringing intimidation tactics and bringing fear in neighborhoods, our families and communities,” Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, the bill’s sponsor, said during Tuesday’s public hearing.
Nathan Olson, policy advisor to Gov. Bob Ferguson, testified in support of the bill.
“Knowing who is protecting and serving in their community helps build trust between law enforcement personnel and who they serve,” he said.
Paula Sardinas with the Washington Build Back Black Alliance also spoke in support of the legislation.
“Our communities are deeply familiar with the systemic and structural harm masked authority can cause,” she said. “The use of opaque face coverings during routine police interactions invokes fear, it invokes trauma, and for many of us it harkens back to the era of the Ku Klux Klan.”
U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan has defended ICE agents’ use of masks to conceal their identity as officers have been doxxed, meaning their faces and identities have been searched for and published on the internet, typically with malicious intent.
“The same people who are complaining about ICE wearing masks, have they ever said anything about a BLM protestor wearing a mask?” Homan asked Politico last year.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano cited the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which establishes that federal law takes precedence over state laws.
“It does actually present a direct threat, both for members of the public and for members of law enforcement,” he said. “It’s also got some constitutional issues.”
Serrano said the bill could further endanger federal officers.
“As of last fall, doxxing increased by 1,000% and 8,000% death threats to our members of the law enforcement community,” he said.
Last year, California became the first state to pass a law banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks that conceal their identity.
That law is being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice, which claims the law violates the Supremacy Clause by trying to regulate federal agents, arguing it puts agents’ lives at risk.
Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, suggested the committee and Valdez hold off on the bill until the federal courts make a concrete decision.
“I understand exactly what you’re trying to do, and it’s a noble cause,” he said. “I’m not sure this is ready for prime time until it is resolved in California.”
The bill was scheduled last in the hearing, so as time ran out for those signing up to testify, Chair Manka Dhingra, D-Seattle, told those who expected to testify to submit written testimony.
More than 14,000 people signed in support of the bill, while over 2,000 signed in opposition.
SB 5855 is scheduled for executive session in the same committee on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
