BUFFALO, N.Y. — Back in September, Mayor Brown announced a policy change within the Buffalo Police Department that no longer required officers to wear name tags. Now, some local groups are pushing back. They saw this could protect officers, but at the expense of the public.

"When we saw Lieutenant Delong verbally abuse Ruweyda Salim, we were able to hold him accountable because there was a video where we can see his nametag. When those officers pushed Martin Gugino and left him bleeding in front of City Hall, people were able to hold him accountable because they could see who they were," said attorney Miles Gresham. 

What You Need To Know

  • BPD officers are no longer required to wear name tags or badges on their uniforms

  • Some local groups wants that to change

  • They held a press conference Tuesday to urge the city to rethink the BPD's policy change

Some fear holding police accountable won't be as easy now that officers are no longer required to wear name tags on their uniforms. The Minority Bar Association of Western New York's Criminal Justice Reform Task Force wants that to change.

"Today, a civilian interacting with the Buffalo Police no longer has the most basic information about that officer, the officer's name,” said Samantha White of the Minority Bar Association of Western New York.

Last month, Mayor Brown announced that instead of a name badge, officers will now have their badge numbers on their uniforms. The move is all in an effort to prevent officers from having their personal information posted online and threats being made against them and their families. But, some think this change may not be worth it. 

"We know that police officers that are not identified, the social science tells us they are more likely to do something because they cannot be identified so we are less safe so they are more safe,” said Sam Radford, a co-chair of We The Parents.

The Minority Bar Association of Western New York, and several local organizations, believe the change was made without community consultation, in an impromptu manner, and lacked transparency and social science consideration. They're calling for all Buffalo Police officers to display both a name tag and badge number when on the job. 

"We believe that taking the names off the uniforms of police officers will only compound the distrust that already exists,” said Keith Matthews of the Most Valuable Parents in Buffalo.

This group made it clear they don't support the harassment of police officers and their families. Rather, they want to ensure officers are doing their jobs and to easily identify those who aren’t. 

"We're not the enemy of the police, we need the police to serve and protect us like they do in every other community,” said Bishop Michael Badger of the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Western New York.

John Evans, the president of the Police Benevolent Association tells Spectrum News he believes it was a good policy change to go ahead with badge numbers. He says if anybody wants officers' names, they should FOIL the department.