On April 9, the Dutchess County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee voted 8-4 to approve a resolution supporting the New York State Mandating End of Lawless Tactics, or the MELT Act.
All Democrats voted in favor, and all Republicans voted against in the public safety committee.
On April 13, the Dutchess County Legislature took up the resolution — drafted by Assistant Majority Leader Kristofer Munn, the Democratic representative of Red Hook — at its meeting, and it passed, 13-9, with three absences.
The MELT Act, according to the New York State Senate, “prohibits law enforcement officers from wearing any mask or personal disguise while interacting with the public in the performance of their duties.”
Chair of the Dutchess County Legislature Yvette Valdés Smith, a Democrat of Fishkill, said she often hears from community members who are disturbed by ICE agents, “by ICE taking our neighbors, by our children seeing ICE agents in masks.”
“We’re sending a message to stand with our community members that are traumatized,” she continued. “We stand with real law enforcement officers — our law enforcement officers here in Dutchess do a great job, and they wear badges; they identify themselves; they are clear about who they are and what they do for us in our communities.”
What is the MELT Act?
From local to state to federal law enforcement officers, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, personnel would not be able to wear a mask or face covering, except when reasonable exemptions are provided for health, safety and tactical needs.
If the law passed, officers would also need to wear clearly visible uniforms, no plainclothes attire, display name badges and show agency-identifying apparel while conducting civilian enforcement actions in the state.
Additionally, federal agencies would need to publicly report use of force and civil arrests done across the state.
Why did county Republicans vote against support of the MELT Act?
As the bill is written, Dutchess County Legislator Michael Polasek, a Republican of LaGrange, said in an email statement, it “fails to account for the real-world impact on our Drug Task Force,” who are the officers responsible for “getting dangerous drugs off our streets and have helped drive a significant reduction in overdose deaths in our community.”
County Republicans support transparency and accountability in law enforcement, Polasek said, but they voted against this resolution as policies that might compromise the safety or effectiveness of officers such as the ones from the county’s Drug Task Force, “must be considered carefully.”
Additionally, Polasek raised concerns as ICE is a federal agency, not operating under state law. He believes this raises “serious questions about how this proposal would function in practice.”
What does Dutchess County’s resolution mean?
The Dutchess County Legislature’s passing of this resolution is only a show of support to those in Albany working to make the MELT Act a law in New York.
Munn said in a statement he’s “both proud and saddened” that the MELT Act is “necessary” legislation.
“The fact that we have secret police roaming the streets and grabbing citizens without identifying themselves and without accountability is as tragic as it is outrageous,” he continued.
Valdés Smith emphasized this cannot be enforced on the local level.
“We are drawing a serious distinction between our law enforcement officers and those empowered by Trump,” Valdés Smith said, who are “undermining public safety.”
According to Valdés Smith, the law is still being “workshopped,” and changes will be made before it is put before New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“It’s not a perfect bill,” Valdés Smith said.
However, in the meantime, the Dutchess County Legislature can send its resolution to Albany and show the county’s support, encouraging them to pass the law.
Legislator Lisa Kaul, a Democrat of Poughkeepsie, said in a statement “untrained agents” who are allowed to conceal their identities with masks “are emboldened to act with impunity, knowing no one can hold them accountable for their abuses.”
“This isn’t policing,” she continued. “This is state-sanctioned intimidation by an anonymous force. True law enforcement doesn’t hide their faces from the communities they serve unless there’s a genuine safety reason. Anyone who believes in the rule of law should support the MELT Act.”
Nickie Hayes is Breaking & Trending News Reporter for the Poughkeepsie Journal. See her most recent articles here. Contact reporter Nickie Hayes: NHayes@poughkee.gannett.com, 845-863-3518 and @nickieehayess on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Dutchess legislators support bill prohibiting officers wearing masks
Reporting by Nickie Hayes, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
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