Kansas City mayor wants to criminalize ‘doxxing’ of police officers, public officials
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced legislation Thursday to criminalize “doxxing” police officers and elected officials.
In announcing his plan on Twitter, Lucas said the legislation stems from a weekend conversation he had with officers’ families, who expressed concern about the growing practice of leaking personal information online.
“Our public employees have a right to get home safely and their families should be free from harm,” Lucas said in a Facebook post. “I condemn any sharing of police officer addresses and personal details and I look forward to Council joining me to make such actions against officers, our city employees, and other public servants illegal in Kansas City.”
He added Kansas City welcomes “free expression … and disagreement on issues of public concern, including public safety.”
“We do not welcome intimidation of people doing the jobs we hire them to do or intimidation of their spouses and children.”
The Kansas City Police Department said on Twitter that multiple officers had been doxxed. The department’s spokesman, Sgt. Jake Becchina, said in an email there were similar incidents around protests in June and one following protests last week.
Lucas’ legislation says it would be illegal for someone to “willfully or maliciously” publish personally identifying information to “intimidate, abuse, threaten, harass, stalk (or) frighten” a public official or encourage another to do so and when the publication places that official, immediate family or intimate partner in danger.
Personally identifying information includes a Social Security number, birthday, home address, email address, phone number, financial information, health or insurance information or school or employment location.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found that personal information about officers was posted online as police and protesters were locked in tense standoffs around the country following Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. The document said the doxxing could lead to attacks against officers.
Lucas, who was endorsed during last year’s mayoral race by the local Fraternal Order of Police, has said repeatedly over the last few weeks that he supports law enforcement and joined Black Lives Matter protesters who have called for reforms.
At a rally at City Hall last month, Lucas signed onto a list of demands, including seeking local control of the Kansas City Police Department. The department is now overseen by a board, which includes Lucas, appointed by the Missouri governor.
Lucas introduced legislation late last month to put a question on the November ballot asking voters if they want Kansas City to push legislators in Jefferson City to allow local control of the police department. Members of the public turned out to testify on the legislation Wednesday, but a City Council committee put off voting until next month.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
