Strange reason why police started sharing photos of suspects with Lego heads on revealed

We've become accustomed to mugshots being released when someone has been arrested.

In fact, some of the of the biggest names on the planet have had a mugshot taken, including Donald Trump and even Bill Gates.

But one police force is not sharing the original photos of individuals being detained, instead sharing photos of suspects with Lego heads.

The Murrieta Police Department in California has been posting hilarious arrest and lineup photos of their suspects.

Instagram/@murrietapd

If you head to the force's Instagram page you'll find a lot of snaps of suspects being arrested donning Lego heads.

The department have well and truly gone the extra mile too, with the Lego blocks having a variety of different facial expressions.

Some of the hilarious expressions include crying, frowning, smirking or raging - all common feelings you are likely to have after being busted.

One particular snap on the force's Instagram page shows two people handcuffed in the back of a squad car.

Instagram/@murrietapd

With them both staring at the camera, the lego face on one of the suspects looks a little angry while the other one is crying.

Meanwhile, another snap shows a suspect being arrested by an officer on the street, with their lego head looking shocked.

Finally, a final photo shows a group of five suspects posing for their mugshot snap, with all their identities again hidden thanks to the Lego heads.

So are the Murrieta Police Department doing this for a joke? Well, not exactly.

The department is being forced to take such measure due to a law that protects offenders' rights.

The law enforcement agency explained on Monday (18 March) that it's hiding suspects' faces due to a new state law prohibiting the release of mugshots and booking photos of those accused of nonviolent crimes.

Instagram/@murrietapd

Introduced on 1 January, the law requires police departments to remove other mugshots from social media after 14 days.

"On January 1st, a new law went into effect that restricts the how and when law enforcement agencies in California share suspect photos & mugshots," the Murrieta Police Department penned on Instagram.

"The Murrieta Police Department prides itself in its transparency with the community, but also honors everyone's rights & protections as afforded by law; even suspects.

"In order to share what is happening in Murrieta, we chose to cover the faces of suspects to protect their identity while still aligning with the new law."