Louisville leaders consider updates to face mask ban amid crimes by masked offenders | News from WDRB | wdrb.com

Oct 31, 2024

On Oct. 1, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg made a push to reinforce the 40-year-old mask ordinance, which was enacted in 1983.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville leaders have said a decades-old masking ordinance could be one solution for some of the city's crime. But not everyone is on board with the idea, raising concerns about its enforcement.

On Oct. 1, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg made a push to reinforce the 40-year-old mask ordinance, which was enacted in 1983.

The ordinance says no person shall, while wearing any mask whereby a substantial portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter, be or appear in any public place within Jefferson County.

Greenberg said the ordinance was not enforced during the pandemic, when masking was encouraged to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But, he said, there has been a rise in crimes being committed by people wearing masks. The revival of the ordinance is meant to stop criminals from wearing masks to hide their identities when they commit a crime.

But there has been pushback from some in the community about the enforcement of the ordinance as many are still masking for health reasons, especially going into the winter months when illnesses such as the flu, COVID-19, RSV and walking pneumonia are on the rise.

For Shalonda Williams, who lives in the city's Russell neighborhood, her mask is never far away.

"When I'm in a crowded place, if I am catching public transportation, I like to wear a mask because people are coughing and sneezing on you and I want to protect myself," Williams said Tuesday.

LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey has emphasized that bringing back the ordinance is just one part of a broader strategy to address rising crime in Louisville. He said enforcement of the ordinance will be on a case-by-case basis, and people who wear masks for health purposes will not be targeted.

The ordinance was first enacted in the 1980s.

"If it is just covering the mouth it should be OK, but I do see people covering their whole face, just their eyes, I don't think it is appropriate because you can't really tell who they are," said Williams.

The ACLU of Kentucky has also sounded the alarm, claiming there is "significant risk" in allowing LMPD to enforce the mask ordinance, and said it could be tricky to uphold an ordinance and avoid profiling.

"We have significant concerns that, how is this new policy going to be implemented? What sort of training is going to be put in place to make sure that LMPD is not using the wearing of a mask simply as pretext for stopping people," Corey Shapiro, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said.

Greenberg has said exemptions would be made for special circumstances, such as illness, but that the city was working to further amend and modernize the ordinance.

Tuesday, the mayor announced updates to the ordinance in the wake of numerous crimes recently committed by criminals taking advantage of the lack of enforcement.

"The proposed amendments reflect community feedback that revisions are needed to ensure residents may wear masks for health and religious reasons, and to protect people from possibly being targeted for enforcement," Greenberg said in a news release. "The updates seek to balance the need for public safety and the need to protect public health."

As of Oct. 21, at least 123 violent crimes have committed by people this who wore masks to conceal their identities, according to the mayor's office, and 39 violent criminals were arrested for committing crimes while wearing a mask. City leaders said criminals are relying on masks to conceal their identities as police, businesses and citizens expand their use of high-resolution cameras.

"If law enforcement sees a group of young men wearing surgical masks and surgical gloves walking around a school parking lot during a football game, or at any other time, I want the police to find out what is going on," Greenberg said.

According to LMPD, that was the case at a PRP football game in September, when two juveniles were shot. One of them died at the hospital about a week later.

"I understand where the mayor is coming from, and especially after the PRP incident," Louisville resident Bernadette Mudd said. "But at the same time, it's like, you know, what do we do to be able to take care of ourselves?"

Greenberg said some people will still want to wear masks in public and should be able to under the right circumstances.

"So if you wear a mask for personal health reasons, I encourage you continue wearing your surgical mask for personal health reasons," he said.

Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins, D-1, is sponsoring several amendments to the ordinance, which were announced Tuesday.

"We understand the concern of the community, what's also concerning is the crime rate in this city," Hawkins said in a news release. "This is not to target any group of people except those committing crimes and to lessen their ability to do so."

Hawkins said Tuesday the "issue is the rise of crime being felt among all of us because of the accessibility to easily conceal who they are. You want to know who's killing your kids, you want to know who's breaking in your homes, you want to know who's stealing your cars."

Based on feedback from the community, city leaders are suggesting the following amendments to the current ordinance:

The updates are designed to ensure that officers cannot stop people just for wearing a face mask, but must be based on "a totality of circumstances." They are also making clear that it is LMPD's responsibility to make sure officers participate in comprehensive training to help protect citizens' constitutional rights.

"The millions of taxpayers' dollars that have been used towards equipment, cameras and other technology to help identify suspects is of no use if the full identity of the criminal recorded is blocked while wearing a ski mask," Hawkins said in a news release.

The proposed amendments will be presented during Louisville Metro Council's Public Safety meeting. It's scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Newburg Community Center at 4810 Exeter Avenue.

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