A police division in California that began obscuring its suspects’ faces with Lego heads will stop the apply after the toy firm reportedly reached out and instructed it to please cease.
The Murrieta Police Division in California has been hiding the faces of its arrested suspects for years, typically in a wide range of methods. Final 12 months, as an illustration, the police division Photoshopped the faces of Shrek and Donkey onto two folks it arrested for allegedly stealing $1,800 value of merchandise from Goal. The division’s latest apply of sticking Lego heads, which frequently boast comical expressions, on the faces of individuals it arrests didn’t make everybody chuckle, although.
Murrieta Police Division Lt. Jeremy Durrant instructed Fox News final Friday that it might cease utilizing Lego heads in suspect images, which it shares to social media, after being contacted by Lego.
“The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully requested us to chorus from utilizing their mental property in our social media content material which after all we perceive and can adjust to,” Durrant mentioned, in response to Fox Information. “We’re presently exploring different strategies to proceed publishing our content material in a method that’s partaking and fascinating to our followers.”
Gizmodo reached out to the Murrieta Police Division and Lego for touch upon Tuesday however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Some could also be asking: How did the police division get into the behavior of pasting Lego heads—and hiding the particular person’s face usually—onto photos of suspects? In a Fb submit final November, the police division mentioned it determined to undertake the apply after the California Legislature handed AB 1475 in 2021, which banned police departments within the state from posting reserving images of suspects for non-violent crimes besides beneath particular circumstances.
“A number of the causes [the decision was taken] had been the presumption of innocence till confirmed responsible in a courtroom of legislation [and] the consequences a submit might have on a person or their households exterior of the felony proceedings they could be topic to (public shaming),” the post read.
As well as, a brand new legislation that got here into impact in California in January, AB 994, requires legislation enforcement to remove suspects’ mugshots from social media after 14 days. The Murrieta Police Division nonetheless has its obscured mugshots relationship to at the least final 12 months up on its Fb account, so it’s not clear whether or not this new legislation applies to images on social media the place the suspect’s face isn’t proven.
Lego’s purported request that the police division cease utilizing its toys to cowl the faces of individuals suspected of committing crimes is sensible. The very last thing a beloved toy firm like Lego wants is for fogeys and youngsters to start out associating its iconic Lego heads with crime or get the concept committing against the law is enjoyable as a result of police used Lego heads in a photograph.
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