Buffalo Police will no longer have to wear their names on their uniforms.

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Credit: WIVB

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown made the announcement today, Thursday, September 24, 2020. Instead of wearing their names on their unifroms, officers with the Buffalo Police will now display their badge numbers, according to WIVB. Mayor Brown said the change to is to help prevent people from "doxing" officers. According to Merriam-Webster, doxing is,

"to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge"

Mayor Brown said that doxing has been happening to officers in Buffalo,

“What we have seen is that some of these doxing incidents are occurring from people that are not in this city, are not in this county, are not in this region, but people in different parts of the country, maybe internationally, that see a name on a uniform. And then go to work on the computer.”

The new policy went into effect last week.  Some Buffalo police officers were covering their names with tape, according to WGRZ.  Channel 2 pointed out that many items in the officers' uniforms, like protective or outer gear, do not have badge numbers on them.  It's not clear if this new policy will cost tax payers money for additional uniforms or modifications to existing uniforms.

How do you feel about the new policy?

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