The Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday said it was investigating how a recruitment ad wound up on the controversial website Breitbart.
The ad, which reportedly appeared Friday night, showed a uniformed officer with the word: “Choose your future! LAPD is hiring!”
Breitbart has garnered criticism over the years for its incendiary content, with headlines such as “The Smartest People in the World Are All Men” and “Milo: The solution to online ‘harassment’ is simple; Women should log off.”
Multiple advertisers have left the site recently.
The department has denied knowingly placing an ad on the site, telling the Los Angeles Times that such a job listing would conflict with its core values. An LAPD spokesman told Fox News the department was first alerted by its social media team.
Chief Michel Moore
✔@LAPDChiefMoore
No. LAPD did NOT purchase or otherwise acquire ad space on that website.
Senior leadership at LA City Personnel Department also relayed they did not authorize or pay for this ad either.
Both Depts s investigating whether spoof/other effort to discredit LAPD https://twitter.com/BrowningStephen/status/1177774688556027904 …
R. Stephen Browning@BrowningStephen
Replying to @Mikel_Jollett and 2 others
Everyone needs to ask their chief, @LAPDChiefMoore. Let him hear from you.
“No. LAPD did NOT purchase or otherwise acquire ad space on that website,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore tweeted Saturday.
He said the department was trying to determine whether the posting was meant to tarnish its image.
City of Los Angeles personnel department spokesman Bruce Whidden told the Times his department would buy job ads through Google on behalf of the LAPD and other city departments.
The department said Saturday it had stopped Google Ads altogether to “reexamine our ad filters and take all necessary steps to ensure tighter control of ad settings.”
Breitbart spokeswoman Elizabeth Moore issued a statement to the Times saying the company was “one of the most pro-police, pro-law-enforcement news organizations in America.”
Breitbart did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.