{"id":13824,"date":"2026-01-23T21:46:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T04:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-residents-say-no-secret-police\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:25","slug":"durango-residents-say-no-secret-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-residents-say-no-secret-police\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango residents say \u2018No secret police\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including one wearing a 'NOT ICE' face covering, walk near their vehicles Jan. 15 in Richfield, Minn. (Adam Gray\/Associated Press file)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

About four dozen people gathered Thursday in Durango to launch a petition drive seeking to ban masked law-enforcement officers \u2013 especially U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents \u2013 from operating within city limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are secret police? To me, it\u2019s pretty clear what secret police are,\u201d said Ted Wright, a local attorney who drafted the proposed ordinance and initiated the effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey show up in groups, they have masks, they have no accountability, no ID,\u201d he said. \u201cThey carry guns. They have unlimited finances, and they\u2019re simply not accountable. That makes me feel unsafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers hope a resident-led ordinance will pressure Durango City Council to take a stronger stance against ICE activity in Durango.<\/p>\n

Wright and his co-organizers drew roughly 50 people to a Durango Community Recreation Center meeting room Thursday evening to explain the proposal and outline next steps.<\/p>\n

The proposed ordinance would amend Chapter 17, Article 2 of the Durango Code of Ordinances to prohibit law enforcement officers from concealing their identities with masks or disguises. It would also require officers operating within city limits to display visible identification and agency affiliation.<\/p>\n

Under the city charter, residents can propose ordinances by initiative if they gather signatures from at least 15% of voters from the last municipal election \u2013 roughly 1,500 signatures. If City Council does not adopt the ordinance as written, it would go before voters in a special election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a citizen initiative to basically say that we don\u2019t want secret police,\u201d Wright told attendees.<\/p>\n

The use of masks by ICE agents during arrests and enforcement operations has drawn national criticism. Opponents say the practice resembles \u201csecret police\u201d tactics and allows agents to operate without accountability, often in ways that impede on people\u2019s constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

Federal officials have said masks are necessary to protect ICE officers and prevent doxing or harassment.<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango residents in opposition of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement activity met Thursday at the Durango Community Recreation Center to discuss a citizen-led ordinance that would prohibit law enforcement agents from concealing their identity with masks while operating within the city of Durango. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Efforts to ban masked law enforcement have met mixed results nationwide. The Utah Legislature recently rejected a bill<\/a> that would have prohibited officers from wearing masks statewide, with limited exceptions.<\/p>\n

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a similar law in September<\/a>; it took effect this year and is now being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice, which argues it interferes with federal authority.<\/p>\n

During Thursday\u2019s meeting, some residents raised concerns that Durango might also face federal lawsuits if the ordinance is adopted. Others questioned whether the measure would be enforceable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll tell you right now, they don\u2019t care,\u201d said one attendee who participated in protests outside the Bodo Park ICE facility several months ago. \u201cThey shot girls in the crotch with rubber bullets.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many in the room, enforcement was secondary to the statement the ordinance would make.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it enforceable? Well, if there\u2019s no law, then it\u2019s certainly not enforceable,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

He added that the underlying principle \u2013 that people have a right to know which authority is arresting them or restricting their constitutional rights \u2013 should apply to all law enforcement agencies, regardless of which administration is in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no perfect way to respond to what\u2019s happening,\u201d said Maddie Meigs, another attendee. \u201cBut anything that brings people together and shows that we care about our neighbors, our friends and our community \u2013 that\u2019s doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those interested in supporting the effort committed to circulating the petition. Organizers have 30 days to collect the required signatures.<\/p>\n

Wright said he reached out to the Durango Police Department and the La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office for input. Durango Police Chief Brice Current said he would like to have a discussion about the ordinance, and Wright said he is still awaiting a response from the sheriff.<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the Durango Police Department had not responded to a request to speak with the No Secret Police group.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Activists circulating petition to pressure City Council to adopt anti-mask ordinance for law enforcement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1175,1020,28,904,994],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-civil-rights","tag-durango-city-council","tag-headlines","tag-immigration","tag-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13824"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19179,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13824\/revisions\/19179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13824"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}