City Council Passes Councilor Sameer Kanal's Right to Know Who's Policing You Ordinance

Portland, OR—Today, the Portland City Council voted 8-4 to adopt the "Right to Know Who's Policing You" ordinance. Councilors Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy, Mitch Green, Sameer Kanal, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, Steve Novick and Elana Pirtle-Guiney voted to approve the ordinance. 

Portland now joins L.A. County and cities like Denver, St. Paul, Philadelphia and San Jose in taking concrete steps in support of law enforcement transparency and accountability. 

"After months of public input and collaboration with community, public safety leaders and attorneys, I'm pleased that a majority of Council listened to Portlanders and passed reasonable legislation designed to withstand legal scrutiny, deter law enforcement impersonation, protect our communities, and strengthen public trust," said lead sponsor Councilor Sameer Kanal. "There are a lot of limitations on our actions in response to the federal government and the unaccountable culture enabling impostors which they've created— but what we can do, we must do." 

The legislation, co-sponsored by Councilor Angelita Morillo and Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney, prohibits law enforcement from wearing facial coverings to conceal their identities, with exceptions for undercover operations and certain health and safety risks like extreme weather. It further requires officers to display visible identification, such as name, badge number and agency, when interacting with the public.  

The legislation directs local police to conduct preliminary investigations and verify a person's identity if it's unclear whether they are real law enforcement and they're detaining someone or engaged in other activities that would be illegal if they weren't law enforcement. Local police will be required to document any such encounters, so that the City can track how often this is happening in Portland and where other law enforcement agencies are operating. 

The legislation also includes an enforcement mechanism allowing the City Council or Mayor to bring a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief requiring officers to abide by the policies. 

Councilor Kanal first proposed the ordinance in September 2025 in the wake of increasing incidents across the country of individuals posing as law enforcement to rob, sexually assault and kidnap people. 

"Impostors are capitalizing on law enforcement anonymity to hurt people. Portland communities and law enforcement officers themselves are safer when everyone can tell who is and isn't law enforcement," said Councilor Kanal.  

The ordinance aligns with and fulfils City obligations under the Law Enforcement Accountability and Visibility Act (LEAVA), which the Oregon State Legislature passed this spring. LEAVA requires all local Oregon jurisdictions with law enforcement agencies to create policies restricting the use of masks within 180 days and allows local jurisdictions to create more stringent masking and identification standards provided the same masking exemptions are maintained.  

The Right to Know Who's Policing You was supported by the sponsor of LEAVA, State Representative Farrah Chaichi, State Senator Khanh Pham, and numerous organizations including the ACLU of Oregon, Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, Together Lab, Oregon Food Bank, League of Women Voters of Portland, Latino Network, Unite Oregon, Coalition of Communities of Color, SEIU 49, Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Latinx PDX, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Portland for All, Next Up Action Fund, Oregon Working Families Party, and Portland Democratic Socialists of America. 

"The Right to Know ordinance builds on the Law Enforcement Accountability and Visibility Act ("LEAVA") with official documentation requirements so we can know who law enforcement officers are when they arrest people off the street," said Michael Abrams, ACLU of Oregon Policy Counsel. "At a time when communities across the county are facing growing fear and uncertainty around masked law enforcement operations, today, Portland chose transparency over secrecy and accountability over intimidation." 

"Today's vote communicates that Portland is willing to take steps to know who is kidnapping our neighbors off our streets. We may not be able to easily prevent ICE masking, but we can reduce the uncertainty and fear in our community with clear ordinances," said Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition Coordinator, Alyssa Walker Keller. 

During the months of public hearings in the Community and Public Safety Committee and Council meetings, nearly 300 Portlanders shared in-person, virtual and written testimony in support of the legislation.  

The ordinance now goes to the Administration to fulfill any bargaining obligations and for implementation. 

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Read the adopted Right to Know Who's Policing You ordinance.