Trash talk from law officers diminishes their status

     I see that a union for law enforcement officers is putting up a billboard in Westminster to put pressure on the city council.
     Instead of focusing on criminal activity that threatens citizens, the union wants callers to blow the whistle on anything they think might be unethical or fraudulent actions on the part of the town's elected officials. As if there isn't enough of that going on anyway.
     It's a headline-grabbing publicity stunt. Unbecoming.
     If it is true that this idea comes from some of the same individuals who were in the county sheriff's department when the question was raised about whether it was time for a county police force in addition to a sheriff, we're in for a nasty spate of misinformation, ugly rhetoric, and ultimately a black eye for uniformed personnel.
     The mayor, a former state trooper, wants none of it, and I don't blame him. When the language used by people who claim they speak for police officers is too similar to the kind of talk you expect from street thugs, it hurts the cause -- if your cause is pride in serving and protecting.
     If your cause is to win a dirty fight, that's something else.
     Westminster commited to a costly benefits package for officers some years ago, and the union leaders love it because they have no responsibility to the taxpayers who foot the bill. This showdown was probably inevitable.
     In any case, as a citizen of Westminster, I am sorry to see this kind of dirty hands tactic in the name of the officers in the rank and file, and I would bet that most of them are embarrassed by it -- or will be, before it's all said and done.