Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a prominent supporter of the “defund the police” movement, is introducing legislation that would require federal law enforcement officers to identify their agency, last name, and identification number while on duty.
“The United States of America should not have secret police,” the New York lawmaker said.
“Federal law enforcement officers should have their identifying information displayed while on duty,” she added. “This is basic”:
Federal law enforcement officers should have their identifying information displayed while on duty.
This is basic.@EleanorNorton and I have introduced legislation to make it law:https://t.co/xcL1j15STo
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 20, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez will be introducing the legislation this week titled “Law Enforcement Identification Transparency Act of 2020” with Washington, DC, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).
Under the legislation, the last name, agency, and badge number of on-duty federal law enforcement officers will need to be visible. The measure gives agencies 90 days from the enactment of the proposal to make the changes.
The bill states in part:
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section the head of each Federal law enforcement agency shall implement a policy requiring that a Federal law enforcement officer (in uniform or plain clothes), employed by a Federal law enforcement agency, make visible the following identification while on-duty or serving the public as a federal law enforcement officer.
…
The Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits to ensure compliance with the policy and data collection requirements pursuant to subsection (a), and shall, on an annual basis, report the findings of such audits to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate.
The proposal coincides with federal law enforcement presence in progressive cities overrun by violence and unrest in recent days. The situation in Portland, which has seen violent protests for several weeks, came to the national spotlight following last week’s reports of federal authorities detaining protesters in unmarked police vehicles. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke out against the alleged practice on Monday.
“We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities, but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will,” Paul stated:
We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will. https://t.co/vkSHmlOzDW
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 20, 2020
President Trump on Monday promised more federal law enforcement presence in Democrat-run cities
“I’m going to do something — that, I can tell you,” he said. “Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these — Oakland is a mess.”
“We’re not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats,” he continued, promising “more federal law enforcement.”
“These are anarchists. These are not protestors. People say ‘protestors’; these people are anarchists,” he said, referencing the activists in Portland. “These are people that hate our country. And we’re not going to let it go forward.”
The president mused that many of the governors, mayors, and senators are “afraid of these people” — a possible explanation for their lack of force.
“That’s the reason they don’t want us to help them. They’re afraid. I really believe they’re actually maybe even physically afraid of these people — because what they’re doing is incredible,” he added.
Six Democrat mayors have since signed a letter to Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary Chad Wolf demanding “immediate action to withdraw” federal forces.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.