Because if you can't identify a copy by name, or badge number, it's a lot harder to file a complaint. Of course, if there are pictures, then their bosses know who they are — which, if they're hiding their identity from the rest of the public, must mean they're not worried about what their bosses are going to do to them.
That does not make for an accountable police force.
Reshared post from +Michael Boudell
Secret and unaccountable police? Police in Ferguson remove badges and name tags.
Police are operating with total impunity in Ferguson
Everyone in authority acknowledges the cops have gone too far at times, but nobody’s doing anything about it.
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An off-duty cop killed somebody in a parking lot recently because they didn’t follow his orders. As far as I’ve heard he didn’t provide any identification beyond claiming that he was a cop. Leaving aside everything else, what kind of law is it that holds us liable for refusing to submit to someone who’s displayed no proper identification or authorization? The no-knock raids that have become standard practice are in the same vein.
@paintedjaguar – I can think of a number of occasions when it would not be reasonable to calmly approach an individual and show proper ID. But there are probably quite a few cases where a shouted “POLICE!” is understandably not immediately complied with.
No-knock raids are, yes, an extreme version of this, insofar as they are increasingly overused. I’m very much expecting someone to use “Stand Your Ground” rules to justify shooting a cop in such a circumstance.
While I agree that the treatment of the protests have not been handled well, the point of the article is voided by the correction at the bottom of the article:
“* Correction: The initial version of this article said that the officers who arrested Olson were not wearing identifying information, when in fact they appear to have proper nameplates on.”
@Margie – Ugh. So in this particular case, apparently it wasn’t an issue (so good for them). There have been other documented cases of cops not wearing or covering up their badges, name plates /patches, etc., both in Ferguson and in, for example, some of the Occupy protests / conflicts (Oakland was noteworthy for this).
Raspberries to Vox for not putting that correction at the top of the article (assuming it was there when I read it originally).
Note that the linked vox.com article now says (in a correction unfortunately way at the bottom of the artcle) that the cops in this particular instance were wearing name tags. (There have been other accusations, though, of similar behavior, especially early on in the crisis, and the tactic is not unprecedented — Oakland PD during the Occupy protests did much the same thing as I recall.)