The Los Angeles Police Department announced Saturday that it had been “temporarily” banned from YouTube after the branch posted a violent attack on the video website.
“The LAPD headquarters’ YouTube channel was temporarily suspended after we posted a video of a brutal attack on the Pacific Division asking for the public’s help in identifying suspects,” the LAPD said on social media site X. “We appealed the suspension and it was denied. “
YouTube, which is owned by Google, had no comment.
The LAPD has an extensive YouTube channel, with 69,000 subscribers. The branch posts videos, adding graphic footage from officers’ cameras. Some videos have warnings about violent imagery.
The ministry uses its YouTube channel to post interviews with Chief Michel Moore, public service announcements, and ministry news.
Los Angeles police officer Drake Madison told the Times on Saturday that the video that prompted the suspension is about a violent incident in the Venice area. He declined to comment further on YouTube’s suspension.
A press release this week through the ministry describes the attack and how two suspects beat a man and hit him in the head with a bolt cutter. Los Angeles police said the man suffered “significant head injuries” and lost consciousness in the Sept. 28 incident. to the intersection of Speedway and Market Street. The two suspects fled the scene on bicycles.
A video of the incident accompanying the press release was removed “for violating YouTube’s terms of service,” according to a YouTube memo.
Video of the incident is posted to LAPD-run Account X, where it remains.
An LAPD memo related to the suspension says that until “the issue can be resolved,” critical press conferences will be posted on the LAPD’s website.
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Dakota Smith covers City Hall for Los Angeles Times. Es part of the team that won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for reporting on a leaked audio recording that disrupted City Hall politics. He joined the newsroom in 2016 and in the past covered City Hall for the Los Angeles Daily News. She is a graduate of Lewis University.
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