Cops told not to wear helmets at protests?

Anonymous LAPD cop "Jack Dunphy" says that officers were told not to wear helmets while working the line at last Saturday's pro-Palestinian rally in Westwood — Dunphy says commanders thought it would look "too intimidating" — and that one officer got bonked on the head by a sign and went to the hospital. "I’m told that the officers ordered to wade into that crowd without the protection of their helmets and face shields were not at all happy about it," he blogged this morning at Patterico. "It’s pathetic, but we’re getting used to it." The police union has also weighed in. "I don't care where you go in this country, at demonstrations you wear safety equipment," president Paul Weber told the Times. "It's basic."