Montana Viewpoint: The face of fear
Jim Elliott
As a state legislator I was always pleased with my dealings with police officers in general and the Department of Corrections people in particular. I found people in law enforcement leadership to be thoughtful, compassionate, and decent.
Of course, a state legislator might be treated differently because, well, you know, but I still hold the belief that, like the rest of us, the police who protect us and help us are good people doing a job that I, frankly, would not want to have to do.
We have laws and police to enforce them because of our natural desire for safety, order and predictability. When Montana mining camps were first settled in the 1860s the miners formed associations that decided the rules and laws that the citizenry must abide by as far as mining claims and general conduct was concerned.
So, in my mind, policing is a natural fit in our society which involves a mutual need and a mutual respect between the police and the community they serve. Which brings me to Trust, yes, with a capital “T”.
The first basis of trust begins with being sure that the guy who pulls you over for speeding actually has the authority to do that. That’s why police vehicles are identified as such, that’s why officers are issued uniforms and badges. Those symbols represent that they have the authority to stop us, and give us the confidence to know and accept that they have that authority.
Which brings me to the topic of masked people with little or no identification enforcing the law.
Currently Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE) are detaining people that they feel may be illegally in America. How or why they do that is not the concern of this article. That they wear masks is. A mask serves two purposes, to hide identity and to intimidate. I offer the masked and robed members of the Ku Klux Klan terrorizing people in the last century as an example.
The reason that ICE gives for the masks is to protect the safety of the officers involved from being exposed to danger through being identified and harassed at their homes. ICE points out that attacks on their officers has increased 690% over a similar period a year ago. They are correct. Fox News personality Bill Melugin asked for the actual numbers from ICE and was given them; for January through June of 2024 the number of assaults on officers was 10, for the same period this year it was 79. (These numbers were as of July 1, 2025.)
The question is, does an increase in assaults on ICE officers justify the use of masks? Remember that the use of masks and minimal identifying lettering by ICE pre-dates the increase in assaults.
According to the U S Bureau of Labor Statistics there were almost 650,000 sworn law enforcement officers (excluding federal officers) in the nation in 2023. That same year there was a record high 79,000 assaults on officers according to FBI statistics. That’s a rate of 12 percent of officers assaulted, or 122 assaults per1000 officers.
If you assume that the trend of assaults on ICE officers continues at its current average rate of 13 a month (79 divided by 6 months) you come up with 156 assaults per year. There are currently 8500 enforcement officers as of January 2025 (source-Arizona Central online paper) for a rate of 18 assaults per 1000 officers. So the officers of ICE have a much lower probability of being assaulted than regular police, who do not mask up.
It seems apparent that the purpose of masks is not to protect the officers but to create intimidation, for whatever good that does.
It’s not even federal policy. Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE has said he is not a fan of masks: “However, if that’s a tool that the men and women of Ice to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it.” He said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”.
He shouldn’t allow it. I want law enforcement officers to be respected, not feared.
Montana Viewpoint has appeared in weekly and online newspapers across Montana for over 30 years. Jim Elliott served sixteen years in the Montana Legislature as a state representative and state senator. He lives on his ranch in Trout Creek.