Anne Arundel County Police are rolling out new patches for the backs of officers’ vests to more clearly distinguish them from federal immigration agents, whose aggressive tactics have been widely criticized.

“We want our residents to be able to tell the difference,” County Executive Steuart Pittman said in an interview.

Police spokesperson Justin Mulcahy said the new vest patches will “enhance safety of all community members” and be implemented in the coming months.

Rather than reading “police” on the backs of officers’ vests, the new patches will “prominently display ‘Anne Arundel County Police,’ making officers more easily identifiable to our community,” Mulcahy said in an email.

The uniform tweak comes as the administration of President Donald Trump ramps up immigration enforcement in Maryland after violent sweeps in Maine and Minneapolis, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers fatally shot two American citizens.

The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis followed a nonfatal shooting by ICE agents in Glen Burnie on Dec. 24. Anne Arundel County Police are investigating the Christmas Eve shooting of a Portuguese immigrant, Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, by three ICE agents in a residential court.

Maryland officials are expecting a surge of immigration enforcement, although they are being kept in the dark as to the timing. Authorities in Central Maryland have said they will arrest and prosecute federal immigration agents who break the law here.

Pittman, chair of the Maryland Democratic Party and an outspoken critic of Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics, is encouraging Anne Arundel residents to call police if they suspect immigration agents of violating state or local laws. County police previously said officers are prepared to respond to such calls.

Pittman described the uniform change as significant.

“Our chief has shared with me the concern that the trust that they’ve built in the community between law enforcement and residents could be harmed by the distrust that’s being caused by these escalation tactics by ICE,” Pittman said, referring to Police Chief Amal E. Awad. “We want our residents to understand that, when they know it’s an Anne Arundel County Police officer, that is a person they know they can trust and cooperate with.”

Mulcahy said Anne Arundel Police do not enforce federal immigration law. “And we will never ask about anyone’s immigration status,” he added.

O’Brien Atkinson, president of the union that represents Anne Arundel Police officers, described the uniform tweak as harmless.

“I believe our community recognizes our police officers,” Atkinson said. “I understand why the administration may be making that change. But we’ve worked very hard over the years to establish relationships with the community. The community is familiar with the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the uniforms we wear.”

Although the union sees the change as unnecessary, he added, “we’re certainly not offended by it at all.”

“Our elected officials are just trying to find every way to kind of comfort the citizens of Anne Arundel County and to assure them we’re not going to do anything unconstitutional or anything harmful to our community,” Atkinson said.