An upstate New York police department will no longer require officers to wear their names on their uniforms.
As a means to protect officers from threat incidents, Buffalo cops will wear an identifying number instead of their name as part of a new policy change that went into effect last week, Mayor Byron Brown told WKBW.
The move comes as protesters, who are demonstrating against the police-involved killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, routinely complain about law enforcement encounters with officers who don’t have obvious identification, CNN reported.
Amid heightened tensions between the public and the police, Brown is concerned that his officers’ names and other personally identifying information will end up online and used maliciously, the outlet reported.
“What we have seen is some of these doxing incidents are occurring from people that are not in this city, are not in this county, are not in this region, but people in different parts of the country, maybe internationally, that see a name on a uniform and then go to work on the computer. That is inappropriate,” Brown told WKBW.
“I think it’s something that should be illegal, but I also think every police officer that works as a police officer should be identified.”
While doxing has been a growing concern ever since nationwide demonstrations erupted in earnest at the end of May, advocates for police transparency say officers must be easily identifiable because of the power they hold.
The Buffalo Police Advisory Board, an independent group that pushes reforms within the city’s police department, lambasted the new policy.
“The policy change regarding badges fails to live up to the standards of transparency and accountability to the public that the BPAB continuously calls for. This policy risks further eroding at community trust and safety,” the board wrote in a statement to CNN.
“Relatedly, the decision was made solely by the executive branch without consultation to our board, which is comprised of members of the public, researches best practices for policing reform, and meets regularly with the public at-large for insights on the impact of policing and perspectives on reform.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio previously condemned the notion of covering up a badge number or name, calling it “absolutely inappropriate.”
“The whole notion of why there is badge number and a name to begin with, was, many years ago, determined to help create trust,” Hizzoner said back in June.
