In struggling Baltimore, police union focuses on comedy skit

BALTIMORE – The leadership of Baltimore’s police union isn’t laughing at a “Saturday Night Live” skit.

Over the weekend, the NBC comedy show featured a skit where female police officers were shown hitting on a male character during a traffic stop. The city’s force wasn’t mentioned in the spoof but the actresses wore Baltimore police patches on their uniforms. The Baltimore Sun wrote a brief about the skit.

In a Wednesday letter to “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, the leader of the city’s police union expressed “great disappointment over the distorted representation” of Baltimore officers.

Gene Ryan’s letter described Baltimore’s police department as a “very beleaguered agency” and suggested the skit could affect morale at a time when they’re “losing good and credible members daily.”