ISSUE:
County Executive John R. Leopold announced that he will introduce emergency legislation to lift a ban prohibiting police officers from taking second jobs at bingo parlors and businesses that serve alcohol.
The move comes about two weeks after a veteran of the county Police Department sued to block an order issued by Chief James Teare Sr., which was based on a county's ethics commission opinion that off-duty jobs at businesses that serve alcohol presented a conflict of interest. Teare rescinded the ban, pending the outcome of the case.
"Secondary employment by police officers not only provides much-needed supplemental income, but also increases police presence in the community to help deter crime," Leopold said in a written statement.
The president of the county's Fraternal Order of Police lodge applauded Leopold's move, which would not only allow officers to continue working jobs at restaurants and other entertainment venues with liquor licenses, but also ends a 2004 ban on employment at bingo parlors.
YOUR VIEW:
Should officers, who are required to wear their county-issued uniforms while working secondary jobs, be allowed to work at businesses that serve liquor and bingo parlors? Tell us what you think at arundel.speakout@baltsun.com by Thursday. Please keep your responses short, and include your name, address and phone number. A selection will be printed next Sunday.