Dispatchers Stuff Political Envelopes

On-duty Salt Lake City (Utah) police dispatchers stuffed 40,000 envelopes with political materials in one week-end, in support of an upcoming vote on a $192 million bond measure that would fund a new public safety building. State law prohibits on-duty political activity by government workers, But police chief Chris Burbank said no action will be taken against the dispatchers because they were asked to do the work by an unnamed chief. Burbank said he wasn’t aware of the envelope-stuffing assignment himself, and that it was considered voluntary during the dispatchers’ downtime. However, an e-mail sent to dispatchers by supervisor Roxann Cheevere seemed to contradict the chief’s claim. “We have been asked by the chiefs of police and fire to help stuff envelopes with information in regards to our new building,” the e-mail stated. Officials said the 40,000 flyers were prepared by the police officers’ union, and were mainly stuffed by the 14-16 night shift dispatchers over the weekend. They will not be sent to citizens, Burbank said. Interestingly, Burbank told one newspaper that department workers routinely stuff envelopes for charitable causes during downtime.