Local police officers’ association protects officers with legal action

The Palm Springs Police Officers’ Association says enough is enough after two LAPD officers’ private information was made public in the wake of the shooting death of a homeless man on Skid Row.

The local police union has taken legal action to protect its officers’ identities and keep them and their families from becoming a target.

It says it’s a safety issue for not only Palm Springs but law enforcement agencies all over the Coachella Valley.

“It’s complete worry of retaliation,” said association President William Hutchinson. “It’s a threat to the officers’ and their families’ lives.”

Once an officer takes the uniform off, he or she is just like the rest of us.

“They want to go home to a secure environment, that security is guaranteed by some level of anonymityfor them and their family,” said Desert Hot Springs Police Chief Jeff Kirkpatrick.

That’s no longer the case for at least two LAPD officers, victims of what’s called “doxxing.” Their private information was posted online, including where they live and where their kids go to school.

“That is a clear threat to try to go and try to intimidate those families or hurt those families. Those officers are out there, they are paid public servants, they are out there to protect the public,” said Hutchinson.

That’s why the Palm Springs Police Officers’ Association obtained a temporary restraining order last year preventing the identities of officers involved in shootings from being released.

“We need to be able to protect our officers who are simply out there doing their jobs,” said Hutchinson.

The union is now working to make the order permanent and encouraging lawmakers to make doxxing a crime.

“They shouldn’t be put through that kind of scrutiny or be tried in the public’s eye simply over emotion,” said Hutchinson.

But Kirkpatrick says he understands the public’s need for information.

“A lot of transparency is absolutely necessary, but at some point there has to be a line where the security of the officer’s family is sanctified,” said Kirkpatrick.

It’s a line that can only be drawn with the public’s help.

“If the public gives us a little bit of faith in that we are in there to do the right thing for the right reasons all the time and see how that plays out, hopefully history will replace itself,” said Kirkpatrick.