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Vermont law enforcement warns S.208 identification rules would hinder undercover work and risk child-protection cases
Summary
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on S.208, law enforcement witnesses told lawmakers the bill’s requirement that officers visibly display name/agency — without clear exceptions — would undermine undercover and surveillance work, risk evidence loss in child-exploitation cases and create operational and liability problems; witnesses recommended council-written policy rather than exhaustive statutory exceptions.
The House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 18 heard testimony on S.208, a bill that would bar officers from wearing masks or disguises to conceal identity while requiring visible name or badge and agency identification. Commanders and senior public-safety officials told the committee the identification rule as drafted lacks necessary exceptions and could jeopardize investigations — including those into child sexual exploitation.
Commander Matt Raymond of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force told the committee his unit’s work depends on concealment in certain investigative steps. "As written, right now, this would make children in Vermont less safe than they are right now," Raymond said, describing situations in which an IP address leads investigators to a residence and plain-clothes surveillance is the only practical way to identify who lives or stays there without alerting suspects.
Raymond and other witnesses…
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