A California police department said it would no longer use Lego heads to obscure suspects’ faces in social media posts, after the Lego Group requested the department cease the practice, citing intellectual property concerns.

A Southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego after the toy company asked the agency to stop adding Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in images it shares on social media. The Murrieta Police Department has been using Lego heads and emojis to cover people's faces in posts on social sites since at least early 2023.

The Murrieta Police Department has been asked by Lego to stop using Lego heads to cover suspect faces on their mugshots for social media. The department regularly posts a "Weekly Roundup" series, where recent mugshots go out to the community with Lego heads and emojis showing up in place of human heads.