Battle over photos, job-related information of LAPD officers continues to generate new litigation

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The battle over photographs and job-related information of Los Angeles Police Department officers continues to generate new litigation as attorneys on Tuesday announced new court action against the L.A. City Attorney's Office.

Last month, the activist website WatchTheWatchers.net published photos of every LAPD officer along with that officer's rank, serial number and other information including pay. Earlier this month, the city attorney's office sued the group that runs the site, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, as well as Ben Camacho, the freelance journalist who acquired the data.

"It really is a travesty that the city is doing this," said attorney Dan Stormer, who is representing Camacho. "It sues Ben Camacho essentially for being a journalist and using his rights under the First Amendment."

Camacho was able to get the photos and information after suing Los Angeles under the California Public Records Act. The city attorney's office actually gave the pictures and data to Camacho last year, Stormer said.

The city attorney's lawsuit seeks to force Camacho and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition from publishing the information, even though its been made public on the internet for more than a month already.

"This case by the city is doomed. It's doomed by the First Amendment," said Susan Seager of the University of California School of Law. The city voluntarily gave Mr. Camacho these photographs, these names back in September and so you cannot punish the press for publishing things that they lawfully obtained."

Eyewitness News reached out to the L.A. City Attorney's office for comment, but a spokesperson declined to discuss pending litigation.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents officers, has already filed the paperwork to sue the city for releasing the information, claiming that making officers' pictures public put undercover officers' lives in jeopardy.

In Monday's State of the City address, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass briefly discussed the issue, saying officers' lives are already too dangerous.

"I'm concerned that the department's recent release of information will cause even more officers to leave," Bass said.

Meantime, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition said the city has been quietly deleting the records of some police officers since the coalition's website went public.

"In essence, the city is stealing that information from the people of Los Angeles, who have a right to know all this information," said Hamid Khan, an organizer for the coalition.