Law Enforcement
Explosive Plates Defused
April 9, 2007 
One of the first marks left by BPD Chief Mike Masterson on the newly assimilated airport police force was the removal of the vanity license plates from the bomb sniffing dog trucks.
For several years under the departed airport manager and airport police chief the bomb dogs had vanity plates which cost taxpayers in excess of $100 each year for the cutsie names like “BAM, KABOOM”, etc.
Masterson has mandated the normal BPD exempt plates which do not cost extra taxpayer money. Good move by the chief–not a big deal, but indicative of a common sense attitude.
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Comments & Discussion
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© 2007 Boise Guardian. 
Apr 9, 2007, 3:56 pm
Good job. What a waste of money.
Apr 9, 2007, 4:37 pm
A good move as any Gov’t agency shouldnt have to pay for plates. They could of conceived to be in poor taste. Comedy in a bomb removal situation wouldn’t fly.
But the other part of me likes that a boring government agency had some creativity.
Apr 9, 2007, 6:34 pm
As the announcer used to say,
“Wait, there’s more!”
Chief, “I’m a clown” may be gone, but the trail his shenanigans left behind will be easy to follow.
Apr 9, 2007, 6:41 pm
Whew! Scary! Some common sense showing up in an official!
What next? Some “conservative” legislator actually going for conservative values, such as less government interference in private lives, possibly even less spending on unnecessary pork?
Aw, guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
Apr 11, 2007, 11:55 pm
Maybe super-hero names could be substituted? This ought to thrill the macho among them every time they see anyone reading their tag.
EDITOR NOTE–The idea here Grumpy is ANY vanity plate costs us money. Masterson just eliminated the “thrill factor” and saved us a couple of symbolic dollars.
Apr 12, 2007, 8:18 am
All of the credit in changing back to standard license plates for the bomb dog vehicles deservedly goes to Lt. Jerry Howard and his staff at the airport. They recognized the added expense and the unwanted attention and made the right decision to remove them.
EDITOR NOTE–Not only does he do the right thing, he is also humble!
Apr 13, 2007, 10:18 pm
Are they going paint the trucks white and blue? Why are they red with flames in the grill? I thought they were a new Airport Fire Department, but I guess they tried that one once…unsuccessfully.