Cops Without Pants

It's already hard enough for the police to get respect as it is, but Baltimore, Maryland has managed to make it even harder for their officers. They ran out of pants for the cops.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) — Baltimore police are looking for a few good pairs of pants.

The police department has run out of two popular sizes of the custom-made navy blue uniform pants it provides to every officer, a department spokesman said Wednesday.

Officers who wear size 36 or 38 will have to wait for new pants until a special order comes through.

"We are officially out," said Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. "We're putting in an emergency order for those two sizes."

The department attributed the shortage to the recent hiring of 240 new officers. But police union president Paul Blair blamed a new initiative that requires detectives to walk periodic foot patrols in uniform.

I can just hear the 911 calls coming in on this one. People reporting flashers will beg the police not to respond.