A police division in California that began obscuring its suspects’ faces with Lego heads will stop the observe 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, usually in quite a lot of methods. Final yr, as an example, the police division Photoshopped the faces of Shrek and Donkey onto two folks it arrested for allegedly stealing $1,800 price of merchandise from Goal. The division’s latest observe of sticking Lego heads, which frequently boast comical expressions, on the faces of individuals it arrests didn’t make everybody snigger, although.
Murrieta Police Division Lt. Jeremy Durrant instructed Fox News final Friday that it might cease utilizing Lego heads in suspect photographs, 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 in fact we perceive and can adjust to,” Durrant mentioned, in keeping with Fox Information. “We’re at the moment exploring different strategies to proceed publishing our content material in a approach that’s participating and attention-grabbing 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 individual’s face typically—onto photos of suspects? In a Fb put up final November, the police division mentioned it determined to undertake the observe after the California Legislature handed AB 1475 in 2021, which banned police departments within the state from posting reserving photographs of suspects for non-violent crimes besides underneath particular circumstances.
“Among the causes [the decision was taken] have been the presumption of innocence till confirmed responsible in a courtroom of legislation [and] the consequences a put up might have on a person or their households exterior of the prison 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 courting to no less than final yr up on its Fb account, so it’s not clear whether or not this new legislation applies to photographs on social media the place the suspect’s face shouldn’t be proven.
Lego’s purported request that the police division cease utilizing its toys to cowl the faces of individuals suspected of committing crimes is smart. The very last thing a beloved toy firm like Lego wants is for fogeys and children to start out associating its iconic Lego heads with crime or get the concept committing a criminal offense is enjoyable as a result of police used Lego heads in a photograph.
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