Advertising on Police Cars?

It's being reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that some local police departments are considering putting advertising on police cruisers in return for new police cruisers.

Ads on police cars? It doesn't sound like it would foster objectivity on the part of the people carrying loaded weapons. Read the whole story.

[Update: After further review of this subject, I am prompted to additional comment. The responsible private company, Government Acquisitions, Inc., states it has contracts with over 400 towns to place ads on all types of emergency vehicles, including ambulances and fire department. So the program is intended to encompass vehicles other than police cars.

Additionally, their website states the program would prohibit ads for alcohol, firearms, gambling, and tobacco, or any other inappropriate themes. Not discussed is the meaning of "appropriate themes," but it appears that the appropriateness would be based on community standards. Therefore, the acceptability of political advertising would be determined by community consensus. Presumably, a police car could very well patrol the neighborhood with "Nader for President" or "Keep Abortion Legal" emblazoned on its side. After all, some communities have legalized marijuana so "Legalize Marijuana" advertising on ambulances would be appropriate in some locales.

Lastly, a picture of types of "appropriate" advertisements on vehicles is displayed on the web site and it sure looks to me like the resultant image is closer to NASCAR as opposed to police car.]