The 3 Minute Activist
Dallas Texas Police Department (September 6, 2006).

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller Dallas City Hall 1500 Marilla Street Dallas, TX 75201 Lt. Rick Watson Police Media Relations Unit Dallas Police Department 1400 S. Lamar Sr. Dallas, TX 75215 I heard about the August 18, 2006 FOX news report on the breastfeeding in public dispute in a furniture store in Dallas. The mother who had been asked to leave the store called for police backup, and she stated that one police officer told her, "If I had a store, I would ask you to leave..." The news report went on to quote Lt. Rick Watson, saying that the department was investigating to determine if the officer had responded appropriately. The Dallas Police Department website states, "Since its creation more than 120 years ago, the Dallas Police Department has created an atmosphere of ethical, caring behavior... The men and women of the Dallas Police Department will work with the citizens of Dallas to provide the highest level of quality, professional service that the City of Dallas deserves." Please remind the Dallas police officers and support staff of that statement and distribute to them some guidelines for what they should say (and what they should not say) when responding to calls about mothers nursing in public. You might find this information (written for businesses) helpful: http://promom.org/bf_info/ for_businesses.html Police officers should never criticize any mother for nursing in public! The Texas legislature has recognized, in its Health and Safety Code, that breastfeeding is a normal, biologically perfect, species- specific act of nurture and nourishment, which must be protected, encouraged, and supported. For this reason the legislators enacted a law, Tex. Health & Safety Code Sec. 165.001 "A mother is entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be." (http://www.lalecheleague.org/Law/Bills36.html) Thank you for your efforts to serve the public. I hope that it is your policy to serve and protect nursing mothers and children as well as other categories of citizens. I await the results of the investigation and a clarification of your police department's policy in these matters. Sincerely,
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