*&%$&*!# Portland Cops!

[vegetablebelay]

Portland Cops Forced to Cut Down on Cuss Words

 

Thursday, January 15, 2004

 

PORTLAND, Ore. — The political correctness police are going after Portland's real cops, telling them to clean up their language or else.

 

 

 

The city's police review commission spent weeks conducting a profanity audit and found that there were 63 complaints over a year-and-a-half.

 

Under a new profanity policy, officers are only allowed to curse when they think it will help them avoid using force. And when they do, it's up to them to justify the obscene word in a written report.

 

Portland police officers say it's one more level of politically correct scrutiny from a public that doesn't appreciate the job they do.

 

Also, cops who curse will be tracked by the Portland Police Department (search) and could be disciplined if they receive too many complaints. But some officers say profanity is a tool that can help them get the respect and attention of crime suspects.

 

"You say 'put the God-damned gun down' and you say it in a way that communicates the seriousness of your intention, so that you avoid having to use deadly force," said Robert King, president of the Portland Police Association (search).

 

While some city leaders justify the attention paid to cursing, they admit that the flap shows that their department isn't plagued by more serious problems such as corruption or excessive force.

 

But critics of the profanity probe say it reveals a city out of touch, more concerned with a cop's language than making the job safer by cutting crime.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108491,00.html

[iain]

sweet I look forward to them politely kicking my ass for riding my bike in the bus lane to avoid being flattened.