The Albuquerque Fire Department has taken the dramatic step of banning a controversial new sticker that firefighters began placing on their helmets recently. The stickers have the letters "FMB" inside a maltese cross, and the Mayor, Richard Berry, seems to think the stickers are directed at him.
The firefighters counter that the FMB stands for "forever my brother"…….. They happen to be locked in a protracted legal battle with MB over wages cuts.
Where are our First Amendment scholars…. any thoughts?
I assume the city supplies the helmet, and as it is city property and part of the designated uniform, they have the right to legislate what you can place on it. I know that is my dept’s policy, although rarely enforced. Even if they buy their own lids, the city maintains the right to require a uniform.
What would I do? Buy bigger stickers and put one on my truck. The city has no right to tell me what I can place on that.