D.C. officials have long been urging that residents wear face coverings to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but now the local ACLU chapter is asking that they require the same of police officers.

In a letter sent Thursday to Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, Nassim Moshiree, policy director of the ACLU of D.C., said it was “alarming” that police officers have been seen at protests and engaging with residents in neighborhoods while not wearing face coverings, even as they have been strongly recommended for anyone traveling outside their home.

“There have been numerous reports, including photo and video documentation by community members, of MPD officers failing to wear masks while engaging with the public and conducting enforcement activities,” she wrote in the letter. “We understand that MPD officers have been given masks and are encouraged to wear them at their discretion, especially when in contact with someone within six feet. However, officers are not required to wear PPE while out on patrol and many are choosing to forego masks.”

A mayoral order issued in mid-May required that anyone who is outside their home and cannot maintain social distance wear a face covering. And guidelines from late June for Phase Two of reopening — which D.C. is currently in — additionally stressed that everyone should “wear a cloth face covering when around other people who are not from your household.”

During coverage of the many protests that have taken place in D.C. since early June, reporters from WAMU/DCist have witnessed police officers with and without face coverings. Much the same is true for officers patrolling city neighborhoods, though Newsham himself often appears in public wearing a face covering. It appears MPD isn’t alone in this inconsistency: an analysis by ABC News in late June of nine police departments across the country — D.C. was not included — found “scattershot and randomly enforced policies around mask wearing” by officers.

No one from Bowser or Newsham’s offices responded to a request for comment on Friday morning; an email to the D.C. Police Union also went unanswered.

By way of comparison, a spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS says the department requires that firefighters and emergency medical personnel wear face coverings and other protective equipment while on duty — even if they are not directly responding to a call.

“As a matter of routine, even in the firehouse the firefighters are required to wear face coverings while on duty and on non-emergency contact with the public,” said Vito Maggiolo, spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS.

Per D.C. data, through Thursday 172 D.C. police officers have tested positive for COVID-19. But in its letter, the ACLU says that the officers in the Sixth District — which encompasses a swath of Ward 7 — were hardest hit. The group also says that the failure of officers to wear face coverings put Black residents — who have already been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus — most at risk.

“MPD officers’ failure to wear PPE poses the greatest risk of harm to D.C.’s Black residents, who are more likely to have encounters with law enforcement than other residents,” wrote Moshiree. “D.C.’s predominantly Black neighborhoods have the greatest police presence, and Black community members are disproportionately targeted by police for stops, searches, and arrests.”