Blocking out their identity! California police department shares photos of potential criminals with Lego pieces on their heads as new social media rules prevent law agencies from showing suspects faces online

A California police department has raised eyebrows after replacing suspects’ faces with Lego heads.

The Murrieta Police Department is sharing hilariously edited images of alleged criminals on Instagram, including some from the moment they were handcuffed.

In a post shared Monday, the department explained that a new California law starting Jan. 1 will ban them from sharing suspect photos and mugshots for non-violent crimes — forcing their media team to get creative.

But while the law was passed early this year, Murrieta police have been covering suspects’ faces with everything from emojis to Shrek for years, prioritizing the presumption of innocence.

The department explained that they are required by California law to share suspect photos and mugshots for non-violent crimes – which has forced their media team to get creative

In a recent post, police shared this photo of a thief who was caught after detectives tracked him down with a stolen iPhone that he forgot to turn off

The Murrieta Police Department often includes humorous captions when sharing a mug shot of a Lego suspect, including a recent image in which officers say they won a game of “hide and seek” with a thief.

“Luckily for the officers, they were able to use GPS to locate the suspect,” police added, saying the suspect – with a sad, bearded Lego for a head – was tracked down using the victims’ stolen iPhone that he forgot to turn off. .

In another case, they replaced a suspect with a Shrek face because he “acted like a boogeyman” in a Target store by trying to steal nearly $2,000 worth of items.

While praising their detective skills, many had followed the comments in the numerous posts and wondered why they switched heads, leading to Monday’s explanation.

“Why the covered faces?” They began.

“On January 1, a new law went into effect that limits how and when California law enforcement agencies share suspect and mug shots.”

The department said the new law, Assembly Bill 994 & Penal Code 13665, prevents them from sharing suspicious images of non-violent crimes – unless there are specific circumstances.

They added that the new law requires agencies to remove suspected mugshots from social media after 14 days unless there are special circumstances.

“The Murrieta Police Department prides itself on transparency with the community, but also respects everyone’s rights and protections as provided by law; even suspects,” the post concluded.

“To share what is happening in Murrieta, we chose to cover the faces of suspects to protect their identities while still aligning with the new law.”

Murrieta PD said this suspect acted ‘like a boogeyman’ at a Target store by trying to steal nearly $2,000 worth of items

The mocking edits have divided opinions, with some saying they’re a fun way to get around the law and ‘the Lego faces look better anyway’

Some critics argued that it only serves to help lawbreakers, and that it “seems like there are more laws protecting criminals than law-abiding citizens.”

The Lego mugshots divided opinion, with some feeling they were a fun way to get around the law, while others questioned whether they were appropriate and only served to help lawbreakers.

One local commented that the “Lego faces are killing me lmao,” and another felt that the “Lego faces are better anyway.”

“Not everyone who gets arrested is guilty, and one day that could be you,” another supporter added.

However, some took umbrage with the editing skills and argued that it only works to protect criminals.

“Who makes these laws?” one asked. “Gosh, it seems like there are more laws protecting criminals than law-abiding citizens.”

Another critic said it was “another L for California” and wondered, “Why does our law spend so much time and effort protecting criminals?” It’s so backwards.’

Although the ministry said this was required by the January 1 law, they clarified in a November post that the decision came after they decided to prioritize the presumption of innocence for those arrested.

‘The department had an internal discussion about posting the faces of detainees in general. “After weighing many factors, the department ultimately decided not to post the faces of detainees in general,” they said.

“Circumstances arise that necessitate or justify the placement of a detainee, but the department determined that these would be exceptions and not the rule.”

The post also mentioned possible humiliation for the suspects’ families by being shared on social media, and a general risk aversion to sharing the images.

“Our goal is to keep our citizens informed about what is happening in the city where we all live and the work that the police do on behalf of the citizens,” they concluded.