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Baltimore Police Union Objects to ‘SNL' ‘Thirsty Cops' Sketch

"It is a difficult time in Baltimore and to portray our brave, hard-working members with such an inappropriate manner is very unfortunate"

The leader of Baltimore's police union isn't laughing at a "Saturday Night Live" sketch that depicted the city's officers.

Over the weekend, the NBC show aired a sketch in which two black female police officers harassed a white male character during a traffic stop, ogling his body and asking him suggestively if he liked to "go downtown." Baltimore's police force wasn't mentioned in the "Thirsty Cops" skit, but the comedians wore Baltimore police patches on their uniforms.

In a Wednesday letter to "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels, Lt. Gene S. Ryan, president of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #3, expressed "great disappointment over the distorted representation" of Baltimore officers. Ryan said he appreciated the humor of the "iconic" show but that the sketch was disrespectful. 

"The Baltimore Police Department is currently a very beleaguered agency in the throes of massive amounts of criticism and disrespect," Ryan wrote. "Many of our members, especially our young ones, are struggling with their choice of career, and we are losing good and credible members daily. It is a difficult time in Baltimore and to portray our brave, hard-working members with such an inappropriate manner is very unfortunate."

Baltimore police badges are worn by men and women who put their lives at risk and have died in the line of duty, the union head continued.

In the four-minute sketch, comedians Leslie Jones and Ego Nwodim, a Baltimore native who's a newcomer to the show, pull over Seth Meyers.

"Do you know why we asked you out of your car?" Jones's character asks.

"Because you fine as hell, that's why!" Nwodim's character says.

The officers, later joined by Kate McKinnon, have Meyers turn, bend over and "look back at it" as they catcall him.

A spokeswoman for "SNL" declined to respond to questions on the sketch or the use of Baltimore police badges. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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