SDPD OK’D TO DROP NAME TAGS IN PROTESTS
Officers will display ID numbers instead to protect their privacy
The San Diego Police Department has authorized its officers to not wear their name tags during protests if a department leader gives them the OK. Instead officers would wear a tag with an ID number on their uniforms.
Some community members say a number instead of a name will undermine transparency and make it difficult to hold officers accountable. The Police Department disagrees.
A police spokesman said the move — a policy change — was in response to instances in recent months across the country in which officers’ personal information was revealed during protests.
The department pointed to one instance in San Diego. During a small protest outside the department’s downtown headquarters on Sept. 10, a pair of officers, at the request of a protester, shared their names and ID numbers. Minutes later, the protester
used a bullhorn to “yell out” the officers’ home addresses and salary information, according to police spokesman Lt. Shawn Takeuchi.
“The department became concerned for the officers’ safety, (as well as the safety of ) their family and friends,” he said.
State law requires officers to display either their name or an ID number on their uniforms.
With the policy change, police doled out new tags that include a four-digit, department-issued ID
number unique to each sworn officer. According to a department order issued last month, officers will not be required to provide their name when the new tags are worn.
“What is there to hide?” asked activist Tasha Williamson. “How is that 21st century policing? How is that community-oriented policing?”
She said community members will be unaware of the change — noting that the depart
ment didn’t announce it — and that could allow officers to get away with policy violations. She said Police Chief David Nisleit has failed to be transparent and to collect community input when making policy changes.
Francine Maxwell, president of the NAACP San Diego Branch, said she believes community members will find it difficult to remember an ID number if their interaction with police causes anxiety or trauma, making it difficult for community members to file complaints against officers.
“In this particular climate (in which) we’re trying to build trust and transparency, this sets us back many steps,” she said.
She called on the department to backtrack.
“This should be placed on the shelf until the community can have a dialogue about it,” she said.
She criticized the Police Department for not running
the change by the city’s Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations, which is tasked, in part, with reviewing the department’s policies and practices.
The board’s chair, Norma Sandoval, said she understood the reasoning behind the policy change and said a four-digit ID number is not hard to remember. But, she said, the department should have been more open about the change, and the reasons behind it, to minimize mistrust.
“Effective and overt communication of key community-relations policies is an area I feel SDPD needs to work on to continue its efforts with transparency,” she said. “This is a perfect example of why our (police-) community relations continue to be fragile.”
Brandon Hilpert, chair of the Community Review Board on Police Practices, said the board, which reviews certain complaints against officers, “understands and supports the need to protect the safety of officers and their families.”
He said the board has fielded complaints that don’t include an officer’s name or an ID number. “It certainly helps, but it’s not necessary,” he said.
In instances in which a person makes a complaint and provides limited information, the Police Department looks into other information, such as the time and date of the incident, to track down the officers who were involved. Hilpert acknowledged, though, that sometimes officers respond en masse to protests — which may complicate efforts to identify officers.
Yet, he said, the board is confident that complaints against officers will be investigated properly so long as officers are required to display their name or ID number
Takeuchi said Police Department officials don’t believe the policy change diminishes transparency or accountability. “The ID number tag allows a layer of protection for the officer to prevent doxxing and intimidation but still allows the
public to identify each officer,” he said. “The complaint process has not changed.”
Doxxing refers to incidents in which a person with malicious intent shares someone else’s personal information online.
Jack Shaeffer, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, said he viewed the policy change as a compromise, one that doesn’t hinder the public’s ability to file complaints against officers. He said that while the change is not a “cure all” that will protect officers against harassment, it will spare them actions intended to get an emotional reaction from officers. He said he’s heard stories — he couldn’t recall if in San Diego or elsewhere — of protesters pulling up information about officers and their families.
“The less emotional response (officers) can have in a heated situation, the better,” he said. “What’s important is that officers have a job to do and have to remain professional.”
Three other law enforce
ment agencies in San Diego County — the county Sheriff ’s Department and the La Mesa and Escondido police departments — recently made similar changes to policies that dictate how their deputies or officers identify themselves during protests. The agencies said the changes were aimed at protecting their rank and file against harassment and doxxing.
The La Mesa Police Department allows officers to wear a Velcro strip with their ID number on the uniforms they usually wear during protests if a department leader approves it. Spokesman Lt. Greg Runge said the move was in response to officers across the nation being doxxed, including in La Mesa, but he declined to provide details about the local incidents.
“The La Mesa Police Department firmly believes that an officer working in any official capacity should be readily identifiable to the public,” he said, “and the display of the department identification number accomplishes this goal.”
Escondido police spokesman Lt. Kevin Toth said the department is trying to avoid having officers’ home addresses “blasted” on social media, resulting in harassment against officers’ families.
The policy change allows officers to remove their name plate and wear only their badge, which includes a 3-digit number unique to each officer.
Sheriff ’s spokesman Lt. Ricardo Lopez said the department is concerned about deputies being doxxed. He said that during at least one recent demonstration, protesters recorded deputies while calling out their names, verbally harassed the deputies and said they could find out where the deputies live.
The department’s policy change, which covers uniforms deputies wear during protests, allows them to use a name tape with their fourdigit ID number.