A state senator challenged Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell to take a clearer approach to laws requiring federal agents to identify themselves during immigration enforcement operations. This followed McDonnell’s statement during a news conference on Thursday that the LAPD would not enforce the statewide mask ban.
“A police chief does not get to pick and choose which laws will be enforced and which will go ignored,” Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, told The LA Local. She co-authored the legislation prohibiting law enforcement officers from concealing their identities while on duty.
McDonnell stated that the department does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, adding that doing so would threaten public trust. He said in a Friday interview with Fox 11 that his officers’ role is to de-escalate tense encounters between federal agents, their targets and any community members present.
“Potentially you have a crowd that could be agitated and trying to get their point across. And then you have the ICE agents who are doing their job,” McDonnell said. “And for us to come in then and try and create an enforcement action for wearing a mask, it’s not a safe way to do business.”
State and local law enforcement agencies broadly ban their officers from wearing masks while on duty, with some exceptions, citing the public’s right to identify law enforcement officers. In most departments, if a local cop were to wear a face covering to conceal their identity while working, they would be in violation of longstanding policies.
Following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, and as masked agents continue detaining people in Los Angeles neighborhoods, McDonnell’s stance has raised questions about how the state law would be enforced if local police do not intervene.
Just this week, Boyle Heights Beat reported that at least six people, including a long-time Boyle Heights flower vendor and other community members, were taken by masked agents in apparent immigration operations in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles — one of the most active enforcement periods the area has seen since federal raids intensified last summer.
“Public safety does not exist when immigration raids with masked agents directly destabilize communities and erode trust,” Sen. Pérez said, specifically questioning McDonnell’s position. “Statements like this create a broader ripple effect that undermine consistent enforcement of our laws and feed into the current federal administration’s arbitrary behaviors. I expect more from a leader who has a distinguished public service career and who has taken an oath to uphold all our laws and protect the rights and safety of millions of diverse Angelenos.”
Last year, the California Legislature passed two laws extending the mask ban to federal agents and clarifying that those who wear masks while on duty could lose certain legal protections. One law requires local agencies to set clear policies on facial coverings. The other requires officers to display identifying information to the public, a practice long required of local police. The federal government has sued the state in an attempt to block both laws.
A spokesperson for Sen. Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, said to The LA Local, that the senator “strongly supports requiring law enforcement to remain unmasked. Just last year, she co-authored SB 627 (No Secret Police Act, Sen. Weiner) and SB 805 (No Vigilantes Act, Sen. Pérez), both of which prohibit officers from covering their faces and require stronger identification.”
An LAPD spokesperson declined to provide more details on who will enforce the mask ban, saying there has been no further discussion or policies established around the new laws internally.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the city’s position.
The LA Local has reached out to other state and local officials to ask who would enforce the law if the LAPD does not. Check back for updates.