Lego asks California city police to stop using the heads of its figures in photos

The Lego toy company has asked a Southern California police department to stop adding the heads of its figures to cover the faces of suspects in images it shares on social networks.

He Murrieta Police Department has been using Lego figure heads and emoticons to cover people’s faces in social media posts since at least early 2023. But the manipulated photos went viral last week after the police department released a statement about his policy, leading to several news articles and, later, Lego’s request.

“Why the covered faces?” the department wrote in an Instagram post on March 18 that showed five people in a row, their faces obscured by Lego heads with different expressions. The post mentioned a California law that went into effect Jan. 1, which limits the department’s ability to share mugshots on social media.

“The Murrieta Police Department prides itself on its transparency with the community, but also respects everyone’s rights and protections as established by law; even from the suspects”the department wrote.

Across the United States, police departments have often posted galleries of mugshots and wanted people on social media to encourage community engagement. But experts are increasingly pointing out the detrimental effects of posting such images online. For people awaiting trial, mugshots carry a presumption of guilt. And for anyone looking to put a criminal conviction behind them, the images can make it difficult to get a job and haunt them for the rest of their life.

Under California’s new law, police departments and sheriff’s offices must delete any mugshots they have shared on social media — even of people arrested for violent crimes — within 14 days, unless specific circumstances, such as the person remaining a fugitive and an imminent threat to public safety.

It builds on a previous version that went into effect in 2022. The previous law prohibited publishing photos of all non-violent offenders unless those circumstances met. It also established that departments must remove photos already published on social networks that identify any defendant who requests it if he can demonstrate that his record was sealed, that his conviction had been canceled or that he had been declared innocent, among others. reasons.

Murrieta police had an internal discussion about posting photos of arrestees in general and announced a new department policy on Instagram in January 2023. The community had asked for more of their “posts.”weekly summary,” so the department said it began using Lego figure heads and emoticons to comply with the law while still interacting with Murrieta residents.

But on March 19, the Danish toy company got in touch and “You respectfully asked us to refrain from using your intellectual property in our social media content, which of course we understand and will comply with.Lt. Jeremy Durrant said in a statement.

“We are currently exploring other methods to continue publishing our content in a way that is engaging and interesting to our followers.” wrote Durrant, who declined to comment further on the matter.

Lego did not respond to several emails seeking comment.

The main sponsor of the California law, Assemblyman Corey Jackson, said that although the Lego figure heads protect people’s privacy, he wonders what Murrieta residents are saying.

“Do they want people, who are paid with their taxes, to receive a salary for putting Lego heads on top of people’s faces so they can be displayed on social media? While they could be doing other things that could protect them?”Jackson told The Associated Press. ““That’s for them to decide.”

While the Murrieta Police Department’s use of Lego heads complies with the law, Jackson said other agencies are trying to find loopholes by releasing images showing suspects in the back of police cruisers. or handcuffed at the crime scene, arguing that they are not the same as mugshots. He said his staff is seeking a legal opinion from the state Department of Justice.

“If law enforcement wants citizens to trust and support them when they say they want to implement law and order, how does playing a game of breaking the law help them achieve that?“, he pointed.