UPDATE: 2/24, 12:02 p.m. — Darren Toms, Director of Community Outreach for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, responded, via voicemail, to say that he (on behalf of the court) agreed that the above sign was inappropriate. He directed us to the Sheriff's Office and the County's Director of Communications Emily Lundgard, who wasn't immediately available for comment Tuesday morning.
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Believe your bewildered eyes, taxpayers: The above photo was taken on the 22nd floor of the Cleveland Justice Center, where this homemade sign has been taped to a table for quite some time.
"Due to price increase on ammo, do not expect a warning shot," it reads. "Thank you for your understanding."
The 22nd floor is home to the County's Court of Common Pleas. Its Director of Community Outreach, Darren Toms, wasn't immediately available to comment on the sign. Who put it there, for instance, and how long has it been taunting the prosecutors and the defendants and their families immediately before they enter the courtroom? Is it officially (or unofficially) sanctioned?
Municipal Court Public Information Officer Ed "Flash" Ferenc, down on the 11th floor, was certainly surprised to hear about it.
One concerned source up on 22, who's been in those parts before, guessed that the sign had been in its current location for "at least two years."
Whether or not the sign was intended as a joke — and let's not even — given the current rocky relationship between Clevelanders and law enforcement, it must go. It simply must go. This is in despicably poor taste.