Lego forces California police department to stop using toy heads to mask the identities of suspects after it went viral amid new social media rules for law agencies

A California police department which sparked hilarity by using superimposed Lego heads to protect the identities of captured suspects has been asked to stop by the toy manufacturer.

The Murrieta Police Department had been editing the images onto suspects' pictures after a new law prohibited them from sharing suspect photos and mugshots for non-violent crimes.

But toy company failed to see the funny side, and the department is going to have to find some other way of complying with the law in its Instagram posts.

'The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content which of course we understand and will comply with,' the department said in a statement.

While the law passed at the start of the year, Murrieta PD has been covering suspects' faces with everything from emojis to Shrek for several years as it prioritizes the presumption of innocence.

The Murrieta Police Department in California had been sharing hilariously edited images of alleged criminals on its Instagram 

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

In a recent post, the cops shared this snap of a thief who was caught after detectives traced him with a stolen iPhone that he forgot to turn off 

Murrieta PD often includes humorous captions when it shares a Lego suspect mugshot, including a recent image where they said officers won a game of 'hide and seek' with a thief.

'Fortunately for the officers, they were able to use GPS to locate the suspect,' the cops 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, they replaced a suspect with a Shrek face because he had been 'acting like an ogre' in a Target store by attempting to steal almost $2,000 of items.

While praising their detective skills, many had taken to the comments in the myriad posts to question why they swap out the heads, leading to Monday's explainer.

'Why the covered faces?' they began.

'On January 1st, a new law went into effect that restricts the how and when law enforcement agencies in California share suspect photos & mugshots.'

The department said that the new law, Assembly Bill 994 & Penal Code 13665, prevents them from sharing suspect images for nonviolent crimes - unless specified circumstances exist.

They added that the new law requires agencies to remove suspect mugshots from social media after 14 days, unless special circumstances exist.

'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 post concluded.

Murrieta PD said this suspect had acted 'like an ogre' in a Target store by attempting to steal almost $2,000 of items 

The mocking edits have split opinions, with some feeling they are a fun way around the law and 'the Lego faces look better anyways' 

Now the police department has been asked to find some other way of protecting identities 

'The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content which of course we understand and will comply with,' the department said in a statement

'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.'

Murrieta PD said this suspect had acted 'like an ogre' in a Target store by attempting to steal almost $2,000 of items

The mocking edits have split opinions, with some feeling they are a fun way around the law and 'the Lego faces look better anyways'

Some critics argued that it only serves to help law breakers, and it 'seems there are more laws protecting the criminals than law abiding citizens'

The Lego mugshots split opinions, with some feeling they are a fun way around the law while others questioned if they were appropriate and only served to help law breakers.

One local commented that the 'Lego faces kill me lmao', and another felt that the 'Lego faces are better anyways.'

'Not everyone who is arrested is guilty, and someday it might be you,' added another proponent.

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

'Who makes up these laws?' questioned one. 'Jeez, seems there are more laws protecting the criminals than law abiding citizens.'

Another critic said it was 'another L for California', questioning: 'Why does our legislation spend so much time and effort protecting criminals? It's so backwards.'

Although the department said it was mandated 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.

Some critics argued that it only serves to help law breakers, and it 'seems there are more laws protecting the criminals than law abiding citizens' 

'The department had an internal discussion about posting the faces of arrestees in general. After weighing a lot of factors the department ultimately decided to generally not post the faces of arrestees,' they said.

'There are circumstances that arise that do necessitate or warrant the posting of an arrestees face but the dept decided those would be the exceptions and not the rule.'

The post also cited potential humiliation of 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 on what is occurring in the City in which we all live as well as the work the police department is doing on behalf of the citizens,' they concluded.