The Los Angeles Police Protective League filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of three officers against an anti-police website that they claim put a "bounty" on the officers’ heads after posting photos and other personal information on city cops released in a public records request, according to a report.
The recent release of more than 9,300 LAPD officers’ information has caused a furor within the department after it was requested by police abolitionist group called Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. It also mistakenly included the names of undercover officers, Fox News reports.
"I deeply regret that this mistake happened," Police Chief Michel Moore told FOX 11 last week. "I understand personally, given my own death threats and on matters of me as a public figure and my family has endured as a chief and even before that, how troubling this can be to a member of this organization, and even more so to those that are involved in sensitive and or confidential investigations."
Officers Adam Gross, Adrian Rodriguez and Douglas Panameno, none of whom are undercover, have named Steven Sutcliffe, owner of killercop.com, in the lawsuit, requesting that the photos be removed from the website, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Sutcliffe also has a Twitter handle @killercop1984, according to the lawsuit, on which he allegedly posted on March 20, "Remember, #Rewards are double all year for #detectives and #female cops," alongside an image quoting the General Counsel at Los Angeles Police Protective League saying killercop.com was offering $1,000 and $2,000 to anyone who killed an officer, according to court documents, the Times reported.
Sutcliffe told the New York Post his "free speech" was being infringed upon with the lawsuit.
