The Department of Homeland Security to rapidly replace the current military-style uniforms of the law enforcers in Portland, Oregon. According to CNN, a senior department official has announced this sudden change on August 4th.
This move is being taken after receiving heavy backlash over the military-style gear used by the officers who intervened in the series of public unrest happening in Portland city.
Concern grew over the blurred difference between law enforcers and military personnel as some Customs and Border Protection personnel and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers also wore camouflage tactical uniforms while policing in Portland.
Following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, protesters took to the streets in Portland for more than two months now. The situation quickly escalated when President Trump sent federal agents into the city, apparently to protect the federal property.
Top Pentagon officials have requested a change in the uniforms. Here is an excerpt from the written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee from Ken Cuccinelli, a senior official, performing the duties of the Homeland Security deputy secretary, “DHS law enforcement officers who interact with crowds are all identifiable both by their law enforcement agency and individually. They are in their respective uniform, with appropriate insignia — to include the words ‘POLICE’ as well identifying the agency for which they work. The names of agents are no longer displayed, as they are the target of recent doxing incidents, which puts both them and their families in grave danger. To address concerns about the military-like appearance of some of Customs Border Protection’s officers’ uniforms, which are the normal uniforms used by some CBP teams in the course of regular duty, we are moving rapidly to replace those uniforms for that personnel.”
Cuccinelli has also added that the CBP officers came with what they had. “we have moved as quickly as we could to procure for them what you think of as the solid green CBP uniform.”
