Local PD Adds “In God We Trust” to Cars

STALLINGS, N.C. – Four words are prompting lots of other words, both critical and encouraging, in Stallings. Chief Minor Plyler says, “It has turned into a brush fire!”

Plyler says the time was right to add “In God We Trust” to patrol cars. He says, “This is something we need, we need to do right now.” He tells WCCB, “(Officers) called it the other day, ‘Additional backup. Somebody else in the car, on the scene with you, that you know is there.'”

On the original Stallings Police Facebook post, opinions on the decals have ranged from a simple “love it!” to “these divisive stickers have no place on tax payer owned property.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina tells WCCB in part, “These displays are often divisive and send a message that the government favors people of certain beliefs over others. People who practice a different religion, or no religion at all, should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community.”

Chief says the mayor and town council unanimously approved the decals. The town paid a local vendor $146 total for the design and install. WCCB News @ Ten anchor Morgan Fogarty asked Chief what he’d do if one of his 22 sworn officers didn’t want the decal. He says, “If that did come up, and that officer had an objection to it, I would not force them to have that on their car.”

Chief says he is not removing these stickers.
He wants them.
He says his officers want them.
He says, “We’re not changing what we did.”

The Union County Sheriff’s Office is in the process of putting “In God We Trust” stickers on their approximately 250 patrol vehicles. Sheriff Eddie Cathey tells us that project will be finished early next week.