This archive report was first published on 30 September 2019.
On September 28, 2019, a screenshot of the ad circulated on Twitter, showing a female police officer in uniform and reading, “Choose your future. LAPD is hiring!”
The placement sparked complaints that the department was advertising on Breitbart, which has been criticized for its right-wing views.
“The LAPD celebrates diversity and embraces it within our ranks, and within the city we serve,” the department said on Twitter. “We are aware that a recruitment advertisement has been circulated on a website that creates a negative juxtaposition to our core values.”
The department added that it had started an initial inquiry into the matter and to determine its validity, as well as what future steps can and will be taken to avoid this situation occurring in the future.
According to the city’s Personnel Department, recruitment ads were purchased through Google and ended up on sites that do not reflect the City’s values through automatic placement.
“We have stopped these Google Ads altogether while we re-examine our ad filters and take all necessary steps to ensure tighter control of ad settings,” the Personnel Department said on Twitter.
Elizabeth Moore, a spokeswoman for Breitbart, said the outlet was “one of the most pro-police, pro-law-enforcement news organizations in America” and had “a history of promoting women and minorities into leadership positions.”
However, some experts suggest that the appearance of the ad on Breitbart could be just the work of an algorithm, which may have matched the content of the ad with the website’s keywords.
