Lego Asks Calif. Police Dept. To Stop Social Media Mugshot Antics

One of the largest toy makers in the world has banned a Southern California police department from using its likeness when blurring out the faces of people arrested for social media purposes. The request was sent from more than 8,000 miles away.

The Murrieta Police Department has just received a wake-up call from toy giant Lego. The company recently contacted the department over its use of Lego heads in booking or arrest images shared on Facebook, according to details shared by the Huffington Post.

I'm guessing the Murrieta Police Department never obtained permission from Lego to use character heads or Emojis for social media purposes.

One interesting thing about this story is the police department is located just 40 miles northeast of Legoland, a popular theme park that features Lego attractions for fans of the toys. Police departments sometimes blur the faces of individuals arrested for minor offenses as a way to allow for a person's right to privacy.

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I'm guessing the Murrieta Police Department never obtained permission from Lego to use character heads or Emojis for social media purposes. The department has been posting these types of images for at least a year, according to the Huffington Post story.

Murrieta is located 60 miles north of San Diego. No Lego content could be found on the department's Facebook page as of March 29, 2024. The content has likely been removed by its social media management team.

Lego is headquartered in Denmark, where the figures were first introduced decades ago.