General Disclaimer

Last updated: October 2026

In the preparation of this website, every effort has been made to offer the most current, correct and clearly expressed information possible. Nonetheless, inadvertent errors can occur, and applicable laws, rules, and regulations often change. Further, the content herein is intended to provide general guidelines and information on matters of interest. The application and impact of the laws can vary widely, however, from case to case, based upon the specific or unique facts involved. Accordingly, the information on this website is not intended to serve as legal, accounting or tax advice.

Users are encouraged to consult with appropriate and accredited professional advisors for advice concerning specific matters before making any decision, and the City of Hawthorne disclaims any responsibility for positions taken by individuals or corporations in their individual cases or for any misunderstanding and losses, directly or indirectly, on the part of users.

Information presented on this website is collected, maintained, and provided for the convenience of the reader. While every effort is made to keep such information accurate and up-to-date, the City of Hawthorne does not certify the authenticity of information that originates from third parties.

Under no circumstances shall the City of Hawthorne be liable for any actions taken or omissions made from reliance on any information contained herein from whatever source, nor shall the City be liable for any other consequences from any such reliance.

Unless otherwise noted, all graphics, images and photos on this website are the property of the City of Hawthorne, and reproduction without written permission is prohibited. Certain icons, images and other materials are used under license from third parties and remain the property of their respective owners.

Social Media Terms of Use

By posting or commenting on any social media platform used by the Hawthorne Police Department, you participate by your own choice, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information you provide therein. You further agree to the following terms of use:

The Hawthorne Police Department maintains a social media program for the purpose of engaging and interacting with our community; providing relevant and timely community news, information and events; distributing crime prevention and public safety tips; issuing urgent notifications of critical incidents which may affect residents, business owners and visitors of the City of Hawthorne; and for those people having an interest in the Hawthorne Police Department. The Hawthorne Police Department also maintains and is responsible for the Coffee with a Cop Facebook page, X (formerly Twitter) account, and webpage. In these Terms of Use, any mention of the Hawthorne Police Department also refers to the Coffee with a Cop accounts.

Limited Public Forum

All social media platforms used by the Hawthorne Police Department are designated as Limited Public Forums. The department respects every person's right to express their opinion, including opinions critical of the department, and encourages posters to keep comments relevant to the topic in question. Content will not be removed or hidden because of the viewpoint it expresses. Posting of any content on any social media platform used by the Hawthorne Police Department, by any visitor, follower, subscriber or fan, constitutes acceptance of the terms of use described in this policy.

For purposes of this policy, a social media platform is the website or app offered to the public to provide audio, video, still-photo or written communication between members of the public and/or representatives of certain groups, businesses, organizations or departments. Examples of social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, website blogs with commenting capabilities, forums and emergency notification services.

The definition of content as used in this policy refers to any written copy, photos, graphics, videos, live-video streams, comments, direct messages, or any form of communicative content exchanged between parties.

Emergency or Non-Emergency Requests for Police Assistance

Social media accounts are not monitored 24 hours a day. The posting or messaging of requests for police assistance, regardless of whether it is of an emergency or non-emergency nature, is discouraged and will not guarantee a response by the Hawthorne Police Department or any emergency service provider. In case of an emergency, or if police assistance is needed, please call 911. If you are unable to speak safely, you may text 911 where available. If you wish to report a crime or information relevant to a crime, please call 310-675-4444. You may remain anonymous if you wish.

In the event you post information related to a crime, you may be placing yourself in a position of becoming a witness and subject to being subpoenaed into court.

Public Records

Content posted to the department's social media platforms, including comments and messages, may be considered a public record. It may be retained by the department and may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act or other applicable law. Do not post or send personal, confidential or sensitive information.

Endorsements

"Following," "Friending," "Liking," or "Sharing" the Hawthorne Police Department, or an officer or employee of the Hawthorne Police Department, does not indicate an endorsement of that person's actions or comments. Likewise, the department following, liking, or sharing an account or post does not indicate an endorsement of that account, its owner, or its content.

A comment posted by a member of the public on any Hawthorne Police Department social media site is the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the Hawthorne Police Department, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Hawthorne Police Department.

Moderation of Content

The Hawthorne Police Department's social media platforms are intended to be "family friendly." When applicable, the department uses platform-provided content moderation and filtering options to limit foul or obscene content. The Hawthorne Police Department actively monitors the social media platforms used by the department, and will remove or hide inappropriate content as defined below, without prior notice, and as soon as possible. Moderation is applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner. The department reserves the right to remove content from, and/or restrict the account of, anyone who repeatedly posts inappropriate material as defined below.

This material may include, but is not limited to:

  • Comments not related to the original topic, including random or unintelligible comments;

  • Profane, obscene, or pornographic content and/or language;

  • Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other status protected by law;

  • Defamatory content or personal attacks;

  • Threats to any person or organization;

  • Comments in support of, or in opposition to, any political campaigns, candidates or ballot measures;

  • Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale;

  • Spam, including content posted by automated accounts (bots);

  • Impersonation of any person, organization or government agency, including the Hawthorne Police Department or its employees;

  • Images, video or audio that have been digitally altered or generated, including by artificial intelligence, in a manner intended to deceive or mislead;

  • Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law;

  • Encouragement of illegal activity;

  • Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;

  • Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright or trademark, of any party;

  • Harassment, or content which constitutes and/or facilitates stalking;

  • Content which violates the right to privacy, including the posting of another person's home address, phone number, or other personal identifying information;

  • Encouragement of violence;

  • Repetitive content;

  • Comments which may reasonably interfere with, inhibit, or compromise law enforcement investigations, police tactics, police responses to incidents and/or the safety of police staff and officers;

  • Posts or comments that contain any external links.

  • The department does not allow posting of photos or videos by anyone other than members of the department.

Restriction of Access

The Hawthorne Police Department reserves the right to restrict access to any Hawthorne Police Department social media site for any individual who repeatedly violates the Hawthorne Police Department's Social Media Terms of Use, without prior notice. Restrictions will be based solely on the content rules above and never on a person's viewpoint.

If you wish to contest the removal or hiding of your content, or a restriction of your access ("block" or "ban") from our social media platforms, you may do so by sending an email to hpdweb@hawthorneCA.gov.

Platform Rules

In addition to these Terms of Use, all content posted to Hawthorne Police Department social media platforms is subject to the rules of the platform on which it is posted. When applicable, the Hawthorne Police Department reserves the right to report any violation of a platform's rules to that platform with the intent of the platform taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action. These include:

  • Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and Threads) Community Standards, located at https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/

  • Instagram Community Guidelines, located at https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119/

  • The X Rules, located at https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-rules

  • YouTube Community Guidelines, located at https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/policies/community-guidelines/

  • TikTok Community Guidelines, located at https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines

  • LinkedIn User Agreement, located at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/user-agreement

  • Nextdoor Member Agreement, located at https://help.nextdoor.com/s/article/Nextdoor-Member-Agreement

  • Vimeo Terms of Service, located at https://vimeo.com/terms

  • Snapchat Terms of Service, located at https://snap.com/terms

Questions

Should you have any questions regarding items contained in these Terms of Use, please contact the Hawthorne Police Department social media manager at hpdweb@hawthorneCA.gov.

Privacy Notice

This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices of the Hawthorne Police Department. This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this website. It will notify you of the following:

What personally identifiable information is collected from you through the website, how it is used, and with whom it may be shared.

The security procedures in place to protect against the misuse of your information.

How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

Information Collection, Use, and Sharing

We only collect personal information that you voluntarily give us, such as through email, online forms, live chat, or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone. We will use your information to respond to you regarding the reason you contacted us.

We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, except: (1) with service providers who operate parts of this website on our behalf (such as hosting, live chat, or payment processing) and who may use the information only to provide those services; (2) when required by law, court order, or subpoena; or (3) when necessary to protect public safety. Please be aware that, as a government agency, information and communications you submit to the department may be considered public records and may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act, unless an exemption applies.

Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to provide updates about department programs, community events, public safety information, or changes to this privacy notice.

Cookies and Website Analytics

Like most websites, this website may use cookies and similar technologies, as well as analytics services, to collect non-personal information such as browser type, device type, pages visited, and time spent on the site. This information is used only to measure and improve the website, and it is not used to identify individual visitors. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, though some features of the site may not work properly as a result. This website does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals.

Children's Privacy

This website is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through this website.

  • Your Access to and Control Over Information

  • You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address or phone number provided on our website:

  • See what data we have about you, if any.

  • Change or correct any data we have about you.

  • Ask us to delete any data we have about you, subject to the department's legal records-retention requirements.

  • Express any concerns you have about our use of your data.

Security

We take reasonable precautions to protect your information. When you submit information through the website, it is encrypted in transit using industry-standard HTTPS/TLS. The Hawthorne Police Department does not store or have access to your credit card information if payments or donations are processed through the website. Your financial information, if submitted, is transmitted directly to our secure third-party payment processor, which is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Links

This website may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that the Hawthorne Police Department is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites, and a link does not constitute an endorsement. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this disclaimer, our Social Media Terms of Use, and this privacy notice from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.

Accessibility

The Hawthorne Police Department is committed to making this website accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. We strive to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, and we continue to review and improve the site. If you have difficulty accessing any content or feature on this website, or would like to request information in an alternative format, please contact us at mike@signals82.com. Please describe the page and the problem you encountered, and we will work to provide the information or service you need.

About This Website

As we have evolved and advanced as a Police Department, we wanted our website to best represent our vision of who we are today. We set out to eliminate the clutter, present information boldly and clearly, make it easy to find what you need, integrate a live chat feature to get you an immediate answer, and design the site to work seamlessly on any phone, tablet or computer.

Website Design goals:

  • Bold, Clean, Uncluttered, Cohesive

  • User-friendly and accessible to all

  • Informational

  • Emphasis of content for the user rather than the organization

  • Centralizing communication for the user (using Live Chat for immediate assistance). One location to send inquiries.

  • Adjusts to any device automatically without losing content (computers, tablets, phones, etc.)

  • Strengthening the Brand and Image of HPD:

  • Modern in the use of current technology

  • Willingness to take risks; be bold with innovative ideas

  • Open, Transparent, and Responsive

  • Engaged with the Community

  • Efficient, Organized, and Professional

  • Hardworking and dedicated Staff

Website created by: Signals82 Consulting: mike@signals82.com