---
title: "Here Are a Bunch of Photos of Cops Not Wearing Masks"
description: "At protests across the country, police have frequently been showing up without wearing their medical masks during a pandemic."
date: "2020-06-08"
modified: "2020-06-08"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/photos-cops-not-wearing-masks"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "masks"
  - "police"
  - "protests"
  - "public health"
---

# Here Are a Bunch of Photos of Cops Not Wearing Masks

![At protests across the country, police have frequently been showing up without wearing their medical masks during a pandemic.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/photos-cops-not-wearing-masks.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Dan Robitzski\</em\>*

At a protest in Queens, I asked a police officer why he wasn't wearing a mask.

"Corona's over," he replied.

As Black Lives Matter protests against police violence and systematic racism erupted across the country, an unfortunate trend has emerged: while police often show up [heavily armed](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/rubber-bullets-cause-death-permanent-injuries>) and [wearing riot gear](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/deadly-military-tech-ended-police-hands>), they seldom wear medical masks or other face coverings to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

By not wearing masks, police are putting themselves and others at a greater risk of catching the coronavirus, [experts told *Time*](<https://time.com/5849175/police-masks-protests/>).

"If a state, if a county, if a city is telling the general public to wear masks," Johns Hopkins health researcher Amesh Adalja told *Time*, "then the police officers must follow that same law."

https://twitter.com/greg_doucette/status/1269306124680990721

While a number of public health experts have argued that protestors are [unlikely to cause](<https://futurism.com/experts-protests-unlikely-cause-huge-wave-covid-cases>) a huge explosion in coronavirus infections, that assumes that everyone takes basic [common-sense measures](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/trump-wearing-mask-would-send-the-wrong-message>) like keeping distance where possible and [wearing a medical mask](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/all-new-yorkers-required-wear-mask-public>) that keeps them from spreading pathogens.

Some cops are skipping masks entirely. Others are wearing them wrong, by pulling them down to expose their noses or mouths.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04541-1200x800.jpg>)
*Astoria, NYC. June 4, 2020.*

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04543-1200x800.jpg>)
*Astoria, NYC. June 4, 2020.*

And while being outdoors likely reduces the risk of transmission, tightly clustered police and the protestors they arrest become public health hazards. Meanwhile, as of May 4, the NYPD [had spent $12 million](<https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2020/05/FY21-NYPD-Exec-Dashboard-.pdf>) on medical masks this year alone, pointing to a major waste of time and resources given how few cops actually wore them.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04571-1200x800.jpg>)
*Brooklyn, NYC. June 6, 2020.*

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04573-1200x800.jpg>)
*Brooklyn, NYC. June 6, 2020.*

I attended multiple protests and vigils throughout New York City. At all of them, the majority of police opted to skip the face mask or wear it improperly.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04601-1200x800.jpg>)
*Manhattan, NYC. June 6, 2020.*

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04605-1200x800.jpg>)
*Manhattan, NYC. June 6, 2020.*

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04542-1200x800.jpg>)
*Astoria, NYC. June 4, 2020. When asked why he wasn't wearing a mask, this officer replied "Corona's over."*

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC04612-1200x800.jpg>)
*Brooklyn, NYC. June 6, 2020.*

Videos from other protests, like [this one of Austin police](<https://twitter.com/greg_doucette/status/1268763606876913664>) opening fire on a crowd of peaceful protestors, highlight that the problem of police ignoring their masks is a national issue.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)