Lego tells California police department to stop using its minifigure heads

Lego has contacted a Southern California police department, telling them to stop using images of minifigure heads to protect suspects’ identities after news of the practice recently went viral. 

“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,” Murrieta Police Department Lt. Jeremy Durrant told Fox News.

“We are currently exploring other methods to continue publishing our content in a way that is engaging and interesting to our followers,” Durant said.

The Police Department began using the images on its social media accounts after California law prohibited them from displaying booking photos of individuals arrested on suspicion of nonviolent crimes unless special circumstances existed.

“At the time of that passing the department had an internal discussion about posting the faces of arrestees in general,” the Department stated on a Nov. 2023, Facebook post.

The Department decided to stop posting nearly all suspect images citing “the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law” and “the effects a post could have on an individual or their families outside of the criminal proceedings they may be subject to (public shaming).”

New California laws that went into effect in January prompted another post from the Police Department, further explaining its practice.

“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 read.

The Police Department added, “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.”

News of the images gained national attention, eventually catching the attention of Lego executives.