The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Officers Adam Gross, Adrian Rodriguez, and Douglas Panameno, seeks to remove the officers' information from the website.
Detective Jamie McBride of the LAPD recently appeared on Fox & Friends First to voice his concern that the website's reckless behavior could incite violence against police officers. McBride noted that this had never happened in his 32-year career and that officers must now be constantly aware of their surroundings and who might be calling their names.
McBride said, "People need to understand that law enforcement is a very unique profession. There's individuals out there that want to hurt or kill you strictly because of your profession. And now you have a website on Twitter that is putting bounties on officers' heads because these photos were released."
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The lawsuit mentions tweets from the website's owner, Steven Sutcliffe, suggesting a reward for the killing of LAPD officers and detectives. Sutcliffe had been tweeting under the handle @KillerCop1984, which has since been deleted.
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The LA Times reported that the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, an anti-police group, had posted the information of the officers in an online database known as 'Watch the Watchers.' The website allows users to search for police by name or serial number, and provides them with a profile page on the searched officer that includes their photo, serial number, ethnicity, and year of hire. "This website is intended as a tool to empower community members engaged in copwatch and other countersurveillance practices," according to the site.
It was later revealed, however, that the department had accidentally released the information of the undercover officers, of whom many work with the Mexican Mafia and drug cartels. McBride noted that this could significantly impact recruitment at a time when the department is already notably battling staffing shortages amid surging crime.
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Sutcliffe spoke out against the lawsuit, claiming he had acted under his First Amendment rights. McBride pushed back on this, warning that the bounties place officers and their families at risk, encouraging individuals to act on the 'reward.' He concluded that this is not simply a matter of free speech but reckless behavior that could lead to violence.
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