The Murrieta Police Department in California has been instructed by Lego to stop digitally adding Lego heads onto photos of suspects, according to a recent report. The department had been using Lego faces to obscure the identities of suspects in accordance with a new state law that restricts the sharing of suspect photos for nonviolent crimes.
The law, Assembly Bill 994 and Penal Code 13665, requires law enforcement agencies in California to remove suspect mugshots from social media after 14 days unless special circumstances exist. In an effort to comply with the law while still keeping the community informed, the Murrieta Police Department had been placing Lego head images over suspects’ faces in their social media posts.
The department explained their reasoning in an Instagram post, stating that they wanted to protect the identities of suspects while still aligning with the new regulations. The use of Lego faces had been in practice for a couple of years before the law went into effect on January 1st.
Lego contacted the Murrieta Police Department and requested that they stop editing Lego heads onto photos of suspects. The department’s spokesperson confirmed that they had been using various methods to obscure suspects’ faces in their social media posts and that the use of Lego faces was nothing new to them.
Both the Murrieta Police Department and Lego did not respond to requests for comment. The department’s transparency with the community and commitment to following the law were highlighted in this unique approach to protecting suspects’ identities.
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