Nameplates for the uniform personnel is another knee jerk reaction by an out of touch employer. To infer that our officers are not approachable or available to help litigants is absurd. To say OCA is "out of touch" is an understatement.
A police officer interacts with the public, for the most part, for one incident and they may never have to see whom they interacted with ever again. A court officer must interact with that person from arraignment until the case is concluded which can exceed a dozen interactions. Do we want these people screaming out the officer’s name or doing an internet search as they sit idly in a courtroom waiting for their case to be called?
COBANC has long held that it is dangerous for our officers to wear name badges because it protects them from harassment and other threats of violence. “Doxing” (the practice of researching and publicly broadcasting private or identifying information (especially personally-identifying information) about an individual or organization is a very real and dangerous threat.
Our legal counsel has contacted OCA and demanded a Labor/Management meeting. Stay tuned.