LA police union files lawsuit against website owner after publication of officers' information

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The union that represents Los Angeles Police Department officers was expected on Wednesday to ask a judge to intervene against a website that published photos, names and work locations of thousands of officers.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League filed a lawsuit against the owner of watchthewatchers.net, demanding that it be taken down immediately.

"Late last week, the LAPD mistakenly released the pictures, names and work locations of 9,000 officers through California Public Records Act requests, including those who work in sensitive assigned and undercover operations," the union said in a statement Friday.

Craig Lally, president of the union, said that as a result of the Police Department's "negligence" in releasing the photos and information, "the owner of the 'killer cops' website was able to download this sensitive information, post it online and place a bounty to be paid to anyone who kills a Los Angeles police officer.

"This dangerous and abhorrent threat has further endangered every police officer, as well as their families, and we will be asking a judge to immediately intervene to protect our members," Lally said.

In a statement, the Police Protective League's general counsel, Robert Rico, said the union hopes Twitter and Google "act with a sense of urgency to remove this threatening domestic terrorism site."

"The colossal blunder perpetuated by the LAPD in releasing this sensitive information must be met with a zero-tolerance approach by these two social media companies, which should include a lifetime ban of the owner of this site," Rico said.

City News Service contributed to this report.