Government Code section 7288
(a)
By January 1, 2026, a law enforcement agency operating in California shall maintain and publicly post a written policy on the visible identification of sworn personnel. The policy shall include, at minimum, the following:(1)
A purpose statement affirming the agency’s commitment to both of the following:(A)
Transparency, accountability, and public trust.(B)
Restricting situations in which sworn personnel do not visibly display identification to specific, clearly defined, and limited circumstances.(2)
A requirement that all sworn personnel visibly display identification that includes their agency and either a name or badge number, or both name and badge number, when performing enforcement duties.(3)
A list of narrowly tailored exemptions for the following:(A)
Officers engaged in active undercover operations or investigative activities.(B)
An officer engaged in plainclothes operations who is employed within the California Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, California Health and Human Services Agency, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, California Natural Resources Agency, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Transportation Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, California Government Operations Agency, or within any department, board, commission, or other entity in those agencies or the federal equivalents of these state agencies.(C)
Officers wearing personal protective equipment that prevents display.(D)
Exigent circumstances, involving an imminent danger to persons or property, or the escape of a perpetrator, or the destruction of evidence, including if the officer is responding to those circumstances while off-duty.(E)
When there is a specific, articulable, and particularized reason to believe identification would pose a significant danger to the physical safety of the peace officer.(b)
A policy adopted pursuant to this section shall be deemed consistent with Section 13654 of the Penal Code unless a verified written challenge to its legality is submitted to the head of the agency by a member of the public, an oversight body, or a local governing authority, at which time the agency shall be afforded 90 days to correct any deficiencies in the policy. If, after 90 days, the agency has failed to adequately address the complaint, the complaining party may proceed to a court of competent jurisdiction for a judicial determination of the agency’s exemption provided by subdivision (e) of Section 13654 of the Penal Code. The agency and its employees’ exemptions shall remain in effect unless a court rules the agency’s policy is not in compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 13564 of the Penal Code, and all potential appeals to higher courts have been exhausted by the agency.(c)
For purpose of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(1)
“Enforcement duties” means active and planned operations involving the arrest or detention of an individual, or deployment for crowd control purposes.(2)
“Law enforcement agency” means all of the following:(A)
Any law enforcement agency, department, or other entity of the state or any political subdivision thereof, that employs any peace officer described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.(B)
Any law enforcement agency of another state.(C)
Any federal law enforcement agency.(3)
“Visibly display identification” means to wear externally on the uniform in a size and location such as to be reasonably visible to member of the public with whom the officer interacts.
Source:
Section 7288, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=7288. (updated Sep. 20, 2025; accessed Oct. 20, 2025).
