MURRIETA, Calif. — According to its website, Lego promotes imagination, creativity and fun. A California police department has embraced those principles, using Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in photographs taken during arrests and bookings.
Why the coverup?
The Murrieta Police Department said it was merely adhering to a new state law that prohibits law enforcement agencies from sharing suspect photos for nonviolent crimes, KTLA-TV reported.
In its social media posts on Facebook and Instagram on Monday, the department, which polices the city located 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles, said it was providing information while still following the law.
“The Murrieta Police Department prides itself in its transparency with the community, but also honors everyone’s rights & protections as afforded by law; even suspects,” the department wrote on Facebook. “In order to share what is happening in Murrieta, we chose to cover the faces of suspects to protect their identity while still aligning with the new law.”
Police cited Assembly Bill 994 and Penal Code 13665, which was signed into law on Sept. 23, 2023 by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
The new law also requires that suspect mugshots posted on social media must be removed after 14 days unless special circumstances exist, according to KTLA.
The department had been using Lego images for several months, but never offered an explanation until Monday.
Not everyone was amused with the Murrieta police’s creativity.
“Only California would pass such an absurd law,” one person wrote on Facebook.
“Then what’s the point of taking pictures,” another person wrote. “Might as well start getting really descriptive in your writing so you can paint a picture for the audience.”
But some posters appreciated the department’s levity.
“Lego faces makes us laugh and we all appreciate the transparency,” one person wrote. “I started following just because of the Lego faces.”
“The Lego faces are better anyways,” another person wrote.