Lebanon Daily Record
The Freedom From Religion has routinely sent letters to sheriffs’ offices and police departments around the country that have placed controversial national motto “In God We Trust” on their departments’ vehicles. Seven letters were sent July 29 to:
• Amory Police Department, Miss.
• Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Fla.
• Bonifay Police Department, Fla.
• Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office, Va.
• Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, N.C.
• Stone County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Fla.
Law enforcement agencies contacted Aug. 7 include:
• Brookfield Police Department, Mo.
• Elizabethton Police Department, Tenn.
• Greenup County Sheriff’s Office, Ky.
• Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Ill.
• Laclede County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
• Linn County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Fla.
• Ralls County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
• Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
FFRF lodged more complaints with another group of agencies on Aug. 19:
• Barry County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Boaz Police Department, Ala.
• Camden County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Cave City Sheriff’s Department, Ark.
• Cole County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office, Ark.
• Lee County Sheriff’s Department, Va.
• McDonald County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Newton County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Pineville City Marshal, Mo.
• Ripley County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
FFRF sent another round of letters on Sept. 18:
• Ackley Police Department, Iowa
• Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, Ala.
• Barton County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
• Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
• Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Ga.
• Callaway County Sheriff’s Office, Ga.
• Childress Police Department, Texas
• Dyer County Sheriff’s Department, Tenn.
• Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Ill.
• Graham County Sheriff’s Office, N.C.
• Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Ill.
• Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, Tenn.
• Howell County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
• Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office, La.
• Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.
• Jena Police Department, La.
• Kirbyville Police Department, Texas
• Madison County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Mineral County Sheriff’s Office, W.V.
• Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• City of Osceola, Ark.
• Ozark County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• City of Sulphur, La.
• Texas County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.
• Union Parish Sheriff’s Office, La.
• Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office, La.
• Vidalia Police Department, La.
A fifth round of letters was sent Nov. 2:
• Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, Ga.
• Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Ga.
• Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, Ga.
• Laurel County Sheriff’s Department, Ky.
• Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, Ga.
• Smith County Sheriff’s Department, Tenn.
FFRF reminds the agencies that citizens trust law enforcement officers to attend to their secular duties, not spend taxpayer time placing religious messages on patrol cars to the exclusion of the 23% of Americans who are not religious.
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor concludes the letters asking the departments to remove “In God We Trust” from their vehicles to “respect the rights of conscience of all citizens, including those who in good conscience reject belief in a god.”
