I read with interest in the news that a suburban #Cleveland man was charged with telling drivers to turn to avoid a police drunk-driving checkpoint. The man says that the #police violated his #First Amendment rights to #free speech. It reminded me of a similar incident when I lived in Illinois. I lived in #Naperville in Chicagoland. The police department there had more patrol cars than it had policepersons to drive them. The Chief of Police came up with the idea to park these extra patrol cars around town with the idea that people will slow down when they see a police car. He even installed a device that would turn on the radar for a few minutes at random. A local radio station thought that was a bit too much. They asked listeners to telephone the station with the location of these empty patrol cars and they would announce it over the air. The public got behind this idea and even went so far as to buy donuts and coffee and place them on top of the patrol cars. Whenever drivers saw a patrol car with donuts and coffee on top they knew it was bogus. I thought it was hilarious. Finally, the chief removed the cars that had now become a laughing stock. It was a victory for free speech.
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