Doesn't this imply the cops generated and distributed images depicting minors? Pretty sure that's against the law.
Legal News
International and local legal news.
Basic rules
1. English only
Title and associated content has to be in English.
2. Sensitive topics need NSFW flag
Some cases involve sensitive topics. Use common sense and if you think that the content might trigger someone, post it under NSFW flag.
3. Instance rules apply
All lemmy.zip instance rules listed in the sidebar will be enforced.
Icon attribution | Banner attribution
Cops are allowed to break the law while pursuing a case in the US (not sure if that's true elsewhere). That said, there may be restrictions on context, content and actions they can or can't take. However, I bet you could make a pretty decent argument that they were using it legitimately in this context.
I see this as using a problem generator to solve another problem stemming from a crippling inability to aim at the source of fire which is a severe lack of accessible mental health resources