A Democratic mayor has come to the aid of police officers who in the past month have been victims of doxxing, or the public sharing of personal information with malicious intent.
Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, announced a city ordinance this week to criminalize the release of this type of information. Lucas said he was moved to do so as a result of recent conversations with law enforcement members and their families.
“Saturday, I met with families of police officers. Among concerns expressed was “doxxing” of law enforcement officers’ addresses and contact info,” Lucas wrote in a tweet Thursday. “I am introducing an ordinance today to criminalize such actions.”
The ordinance defines doxxing as the “the malicious publication of personally identifying information of public servants with the intent to intimidate, abuse, threaten harass or frighten a public servant.” Public servants include elected city officials, employees of the Board of Police Commissioners, and city appointees. The proposal extends to immediate family members and domestic partners.
“Our officers and other public employees have a right to get home safely, and their families should be safe from harm,” Lucas wrote in another post. “We welcome free expression in Kansas City. We do not welcome intimidation of people doing the jobs we hire them to do or intimidation of their spouses and children.”
The ordinance considers the sharing of a person’s full name, Social Security number, date of birth, financial accounts, employer, residence, and phone number as information that is personal. It did not state how a violation of the order would be punishable.
Lucas said his office is not encroaching on people’s free speech but rather the “intimidation of people doing the jobs we hire them to do.”
