Deputy Health Commissioner Elias Dorsey almost wrecked his car when he saw it. Police officers said it made them sick.
The cause of their distress: a billboard advertising bulletproof vests for sale -- no questions asked -- and providing a toll-free phone number.
Yesterday, the Baltimore City Council reacted to complaints about the billboard, as Council President Mary Pat Clarke proposed legislation restricting the sale of the vests.
"Individuals who want to purchase soft body armor . . . are for the most part, members of the criminal element," said Officer Gary McLhinney, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 3, which represents Baltimore police officers.
Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector said that after Mr. Dorsey told her about the sign on Reisterstown Road in Northwest Baltimore, the 5th District council delegation contacted the billboard company, Penn Advertising, and the ad was removed before Thanksgiving.
The police union asked the City Council to enact a law making it illegal to sell bulletproof vests to virtually anyone other than a law enforcement officer. Someone with permission from the police commissioner would be able to buy a vest. That legislation was introduced last night by Mrs. Clarke.
"For many years in this industry we have had very responsible vendors who have policed themselves, who have not sold willy-nilly to whoever walked in," she said. "The industry now looks as though newcomers are going to sensationalize in order to sell, and disrespect our communities and endanger our police in the process."
Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier said he supported the legislation, which was sent to the council's public safety committee. "It is in the best interest of the working police officer that we don't have a lot of body armor on the street, just like I think it's important that we don't have a lot guns on the street."
The council also asked the police commissioner to consider starting an aggressive firearms reduction program like one in Kansas City, Mo. "In Kansas City, they have police squads organized to intercept illegal guns, guns that are being carried without the proper licenses," Mrs. Clarke said. "When a car is stopped for a traffic violation, and there is a reasonable belief that there is a gun aboard, they have the right to search for that gun and confiscate it."