Under Kansas City Mayor’s Proposal, ‘Doxxing’ Police Could Mean Fines Or Jail Time

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced an ordinance Thursday that would criminalize widely sharing private information about police officers and other public officials.

“Doxxing” is the practice of searching and publicly broadcasting private information about an individual, generally with malicious intent.

Kansas City Police say several officers' home addresses and phone numbers have been posted on Twitter recently, leaving families of police feeling threatened.

Lucas said he supports public servants being publicly held accountable, but that that shouldn’t extend to people’s spouses, family or children.

“I'm all about protesting and all about holding people to account. What I don't think we need to do is have families living in fear,” Lucas told KCUR.

Personally identifying information would include social security numbers, date of birth, home address, credit or debit card numbers, school locations or health information.

If the measure is ultimately approved, a violation could result in a fine up to $500 or jail time, although Lucas said the city generally prefers not to incarcerate people for nonviolent offenses.

Lucas said the ordinance would apply to all city employees and some public officials. He adds that the city would have to prove that information was shared with malicious intent.

“It is if you're sharing information with the intent to harass, to harm, to injure,” Lucas said.

Despite calling for police reforms — including pushing for local control of police — Lucas has shown support for KCPD throughout weeks of protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

In a Facebook post Thursday, Lucas said he promised to draft the ordinance after a conversation with families of police officers last weekend.

“Our public employees have a right to get home safely and their families should be free from harm,” Lucas said.