…and they’ve gone with the non-inflammatory logo:COPS: AGH!!!

Those of you who’ve been reading this newspaper lately may have garnered the impression that Portland’s cops are all out-of-control maniacs with nothing better to do than violate your rights. But I promise, you’d be wrong.

The truth is, most Portland cops are heroic and professional people, who I speculate must be highly embarrassed by the behavior of less than 1% of their colleagues. Most of them must be hoping the city can negotiate a tougher contract with the police union to start firing some of the officers who’ve repeatedly shown a lack of judgment and let the whole bureau down.

Tune in to 90.7 KBOO, for all-day special programs to commemorate the occasion. The highlight? Alejandro Queral of the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center will be on from 3-5. Not only are his opinions top of the line, his voice rivals Garrison Keillor for listen-ability, and despite the seriousness of his subject, Queral can be funny sometimes.

Meanwhile, check out this article from Sunday’s New York Times, detailing the lesser-known practice (than racial profiling) of airport bathroom profiling, by cops:

Mr.Craig said the police officer working undercover in the next stall at a Minneapolis airport bathroom had lumped him neatly into the behavioral profile of someone on the prowl: the wide stance, the toe-tapping, the upward-facing palm, the flash of a wedding ring. In the well-developed profile of how a man intending to engage in lewd conduct in that bathroom behaved, the gestures added up to a coded message.

Apparently “Sweats. A twitch. A grimace…” all add up to the same thing, which is probably something to bear in mind, next time you’re tempted to up the difficulty on the Stairmaster, down at the gym.