Thousands of photos, names and other personal information for police in Los Angeles were released to an anti-police group that has published the material on a website – sparking a complaint against the city’s top cop from the officers’ labor union.
The information’s release endangers police across the city and exposes undercover cops, the union claims, though the group said the information is public information and doesn’t include private addresses.
“This site just went up a day or two ago and puts a bounty on our officers,” Robert Rico, general counsel for the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “We are going to court to try and get it taken down and have sent cease-and-desist demands to Google and Twitter.”
A police abolitionist group called Stop LAPD Spying Coalition was able to obtain records for all police officers in the city through a public records request and then posted the information on a website titled “Watch the Watchers.”
Members of the LAPD walk in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / File)
The website allows for users to search for police by name or serial number. Users are then taken to a profile page on the searched officer, including their photo, serial number, ethnicity and year of hire.
News of the data getting released publicly apparently came as a surprise to the police union, which only found out about the matter through a Los Angeles Times reporter who was investigating the story on March 16.
“The LAPPL was shocked and dismayed regarding the release of this information and the dire consequences the release of this information would have on the safety of our member Police Officers,” the union wrote in a formal misconduct complaint.
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Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore talks during a news conference at LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. (AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez / File)
The complaint was filed against LAPD Chief Michel Moore and Police Administrator III Lizabeth Rhodes on Tuesday “for gross negligence and misconduct regarding egregious neglect of duty, false statements, and conduct unbecoming an officer or employee for their role in the public disclosure of personal information that will endanger police officers, especially those working in sensitive assignments,” the police union said in a press release this week.
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“Some genius at LAPD f—d up and exposed everybody, including those who are undercover,” Tom Saggau, a spokesman for the LAPPL, told LA Magazine.
Moore said earlier this week that he extended his “deep apologies” for how officers found out about their data getting publicly posted and cited how many cops in the city work dangerous undercover jobs and are now at risk of being exposed.
The Los Angeles skyline (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / File)
“They are involved in criminal investigations involving drug cartels, violent street organizations, in which their identity pursuant to court oversight and the constitution is masked,” Moore said at a regular meeting of the Police Commission, according to the LA Times.
The union is demanding answers on “who knew what and when did they know it.”
“If the Chief did not know, as he has claimed, then who did and when will they get shown the door? We will also be pressing to ensure those officers that are working in sensitive assignments are accorded the appropriate security to keep them and their families safe,” the union said in a press release.
Los Angeles Police Department personnel gather outside a crime scene. (LAPD Headquarters Facebook)
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition describes itself as a “community group building power toward abolition of the police state” and was founded in 2011.
An organizer with Stop LAPD Spying Coalition told Fox News Digital on Thursday that “all the information on the Watch the Watchers website is public records.”
“The information on the officers is limited to their names, serial numbers, divisions, year of hire, gender, ethnicity, departmental email address and rank, along with their departmental headshots. The information on the site is in service of public education and community awareness,” organizer Hamid Khan said.
Personal information, such as home addresses, are not included on the website.
Since the data was published on its other site, Watch the Watchers, social media has also ignited with menacing posts calling for “payback time.”
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“We have now #published over 9000 names and head-shots of numerous regular and #undercover #LAPD officers on ⋊i||ɘɿɔoq.ɔom online. A to Z. Let the games begin!! Remember, nobody pays more for LAPD head-shots then ⋊i||ɘɿɔoq.ɔom Payback time!,” a tweet on an account called “KillerCop™” stated on Wednesday.
The Office of the Inspector General is investigating the matter.
The LAPD directed Fox News Digital to the LAPPL’s website when approached for comment Thursday.
