Nothing like a truly devoted public servant looking for a workaround when there are obstacles.
In this case, what the state senators from California were looking for was a workaround to enforce one of their pet progressive projects called Senate Bill 627 or the No Secret Police Act, which went into effect in the state on the first of January.
It doesn’t help that the act was authored by repulsive deviant Scott Wiener.
…Authored by California Sen. Scott Wiener, SB 627 is the first law enacted in the nation to prohibit law enforcement officials from covering their faces while on duty.
“ICE’s secret police tactics, under Trump and Stephen Miller, are raining fear and aggression down on California and requiring us to adapt in real time,” Wiener wrote in a statement. “No one wants masked officers roaming their communities and kidnapping people with impunity.”
No Secret Police Act Provisions:
- Mask Ban: Law enforcement cannot wear ski masks or similar coverings.
- Exceptions: Limited to situations like SWAT operations or health-related needs.
- Identification Requirement: Officers must display visible identification, including names or badge numbers.
- Non-compliance consequence: Officers who fail to comply would lose qualified immunity which protects officers from individual liability for their actions.
ICYMI: California’s No Secret Police Act, which prohibits law enforcement officers, including federal agents like ICE, from wearing masks while on duty, took effect on January 1, 2026.
No Secret Police Act Provisions:
✔️Mask Ban: Law enforcement cannot wear ski masks or similar… pic.twitter.com/3DOTWbW1XI
— ❣️Anne❣️ (@USA_Anne711) January 5, 2026
When it passed in November, the Trump administration immediately filed a lawsuit against it, and the first hearing was three weeks ago. The LA Times says the judge was ‘skeptical.’
…“Why can’t they perform their duties without a mask? They did that until 2025, did they not?” Snyder said. “How in the world do those who don’t mask manage to operate?”
The administration first sued to block the new rules in November, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act and its companion provision, the No Vigilantes Act, into law. Together, the laws bar law enforcement officers from wearing masks and compel them to display identification “while conducting law enforcement operations in the Golden State.” Both offenses would be misdemeanors.
Federal officials have vowed to defy the new rules, saying they are unconstitutional and put agents in danger. They have also decried an exception in the law for California state peace officers, arguing the carve-out is discriminatory. The California Highway Patrol is among those exempted, while city and county agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, must comply.
“These were clearly and purposefully targeted at the federal government,” Davis told the court Wednesday. “Federal officers face prosecution if they do not comply with California law, but California officers do not.”
Full interview: U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli on CA mask law.
Bill Essayli, United States Attorney for the Central District of California, commented on California’s “No Secret Police Act.” What it does is prohibit most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents,… pic.twitter.com/pzTTx9hZXG
— 🦅 Bird Photog 🦅 🇺🇲 (@DavidLipsy) September 28, 2025
…What it does is prohibit most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while on duty. While it does not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026.
He said the federal government has taken no action other than directing agencies that California has no jurisdiction over federal agencies and agents. “So they’ve been told to basically disregard the law,” Essayli said. “It has no force or effect on the federal government.”
As the case wends its way through the courts, the obstacle to enforcing the act turned out to be California’s own law enforcement agencies.
The Los Angeles Police Department said they would not do so.
🚨BREAKING: LAPD will not enforce California’s radical ICE Agent mask ban.
Chief McDonnell said that the federal mask ban, signed into law as the “No Secret Police Act” is not a good public policy decision, and it wasn’t well thought out — a big 🖕🏻to @GavinNewsom. pic.twitter.com/yhETVBFF2f
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) February 1, 2026
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department followed suit, saying they had no authority to enforce state law on federal officers.
…The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the law enforcement agency that patrols unincorporated Los Angeles County, said that federal law makes the department unable to enforce the ban.
“Federal law governs civil immigration matters, and under the U.S. Constitution, federal authority supersedes state and local laws. As a local law enforcement entity, we do not create federal policy, but we are required to operate within the legal framework it establishes.
“Current federal law will not allow us to enforce the proposed ordinance on federal agents, should the courts decide differently we will adjust accordingly,” the department said.
Out for figurative ICE blood, there had to be some way for these California legislators to draw it, and, after some stompy-footing, they finally came up with a solution.
Sue each individual offending officer for not following California law.
Simple, see?
While police chiefs say they won’t enforce the state’s new ban on masks for law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, California lawmakers say there’s another way to penalize officers who conceal their identities.
Senate Bill 627, known as the No Secret Police Act, can be enforced through the court system, creating a civil penalty for officers who violate the law, the bill’s authors say.
In other words: Just sue the violators.
Wiener is SO MAD at LAPD for not going along with his vendetta against ICE officers, but that’s okay.
He’ll show them who’s wearing leather.
…“It’s disappointing that LAPD doesn’t want to enforce California law to protect our communities in the face of this assault,” Wiener said, referring to the masked federal immigration officers descending on local communities. “Luckily, the No Secret Police Act was crafted to hold ICE accountable without the need for local law enforcement to get involved.”
Individuals, groups, city attorneys and district attorneys all can file suits against any agencies, officers or agents who mask up after Jan. 1, according to the law.
The civil penalty starts at $10,000.
The law also requires any law enforcement agencies operating in California to have a publicly posted mask policy by July 1.
Not only are the officers who serve at DHS under physical attack nearly everywhere they go, but now they have to worry about dealing with noxious, demented, despicable gadflies like Wiener aiming at their livelihoods and urging others to do so.
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