Police Humor

The police department was kind enough to give me an instruction sheet when I signed up for the ride-along so I'd know where to go, what to wear, hot to behave, what to expect generally. It contained very helpful information, and I appreciated it, but the "what not to wear" advice is a bit cute:

Please dress comfortably and dress appropriate for the weather. Ladies, we do ask that you not wear short shorts and no halter-tops. Men, so that we not exclude you, if you are so inclined to wear either, please refrain from wearing these items as well.

Right. Why not just say "no short shorts or halter tops" and leave the gender out of it? I think this, too, provides another little hint into the mind of the typical police department or police force. It displays and old-fashioned sensibility about how things are or ought to be, and a sort of alienation from or bewildered misunderstanding of the way the world works today.

Oh, but they're on the technological cutting edge.

Posted July 15, 2004 06:16 AM | 1L summer