If you’re reading this, you probably read David Codrea’s site, The War On Guns. Maybe you’ll recall the post from November 16th, 2011: We’re the Only Ones Taking Care of Our Own Enough.
Well, I was a bit ticked off when I saw that, and after reading some of the comments, specifically the one by Carl-Bear where he got the emailed response confirming that it was not a satire site… well, I had to do something.
Seeing as how I’m about 1,250 miles from West Palm Beach, I can’t just stop into the station and lodge a complaint. So, I decided to send an email to the dick that responded to Bear. I copied that email to some newspapers, FL congressmen (that I think cover where he works and where he lives) and found the Police Department that I was pretty sure he worked at and sent it to them too. As it turns out, I (and Bear) got the right one. Anyway, this is the email that I sent:

I have recently been informed of your site and your product. I made a comment at the blog that pointed me to you with the following line, “The law is the law, even if I think the particular law is BS, I’ll still get a ticket and take it to court to argue my case.”
I have been informed that a former leo wrote to you to see if you were a satire site and your response pisses me off. You told him “‘Breaking the Law’…Yes, if this person is Breaking the Law, the card should not apply. But for traffic offenses, let’s extend courtesy and show camaraderie to one another!!!” You also offered to send him several cards free of charge.
So, the next time I get pulled over for a traffic violation, I’m going to tell the officer that he can’t ticket me because West Palm Beach Detective Brian Gellin, CEO Law Enforcement Professional Courtesy Cards, www.leoprocards.com, sales@leoprocards.com, 561-601-4802 (c), 561-626-6777 (f) says that traffic violations aren’t breaking the law.
Are you out of your effing mind? The law IS the law. Traffic laws are still traffic laws. So, you are encouraging people to break the law, which is a crime in and of itself (what is the definition of a criminal conspiracy?)
Screw your “professional courtesy”. As an EMT, if I ever find one of these cards, the person holding it will get… well, hell, I’d like to say they’d get worse treatment than everyone else but that’s a lie, I treat all patients the same, even if they disgust me and I would like to say that you, sir, disgust me. Leo’s should be harshest to fellow leos since you are, after all, supposed to be setting an example to the general population. And you wonder why the general population are more and more disgusted by your kind. You wonder why people like me refuse to trust our lives to the police and instead go armed and ready to protect ourselves. It is people like you that make me not trust the police. As an active officer, how many laws have you broken? I would venture to guess that it’s more than just letting violators go with a handshake and a smile.

According to your domain registration, you are Brian Gellin of 2436 Holly Lane; Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410. How are the Jewelry Store and the Production Company doing? Gee, isn’t public information a bitch?
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Let me repeat: You disgust me. Everyone who has one of these cards disgusts me. Everyone who thinks that law enforcement officers are above the law disgusts me. You need to be stripped of your badge at the very least since you have no idea what it means to be a citizen of this country. You are a disgrace to the badge and the oath you swore.

Mark Roote

I wasn’t really expecting much of anything to come of it, but I had to say something to someone. However, within 6 hours of my submitting that to the West Palm Beach Police Department I got an email from a Captain in the Internal Affairs Division. They stated that they had previously done an investigation of Gellin and issued punishment and that they would like to speak to me. I emailed back and when I didn’t hear anything Friday, I called this morning (that’s a good thing since my email ended up in the spam basket). She was wondering how I got my information and how recent it was. After telling her about the simple web search techniques I used and that it said it was updated in October at the oldest (most was newer), she asked me to resend my previous email along with having Bear forward his email to her (he has, I’ll be calling her this afternoon to confirm receipt). She said that Gellin was told to cut all ties to the LEO ProCards company, but this was several months ago and if he hasn’t then she will be able to push the issue higher with greater punishment for him. She agreed with me that he shouldn’t be behind a badge with the attitude he has displayed, but she is very limited in how she can deal with him (gotta love unions and bureaucracies, huh?)

I’ll post an update when I hear anything (she promised to keep me informed).

The simple moral behind the story? If you say something about a problem, nothing may happen. If you say nothing about a problem, nothing will happen. But if you say something, something just might come of it. Quit being a coward and do something about the wrongs that you see.