Committee advances bill to require officers to display ID, expand impersonation prohibitions amid masked-enforcement concerns

Senator Perez presented Senate Bill 805 to the Public Safety Committee, describing the measure as a targeted response to reports of masked individuals conducting arrests in California without clear agency identification. Perez told the committee SB 805 would expand existing impersonation prohibitions, require law enforcement operating in California to display identification showing their agency affiliation and name or badge number, and give people and officers the authority to ask for identification when there is reasonable suspicion of impersonation, kidnapping or a safety concern. The bill also would bar bounty hunters from performing immigration enforcement functions.

Supporters said the bill seeks straightforward accountability. Janette Suny Patena (Jeanette Zanapaten in earlier testimony), policy director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, testified that masked, unmarked raids have led to deaths and severe…