Twin Rivers Police Association Under Renewed Scrutiny For Controversial T-Shirt

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- The Twin Rivers Police Officers Association is apologizing for a T-shirt that has angered a lot of people in the community.

The shirt says "You Raise 'Em. We Cage 'Em" with a picture of a young child behind bars.

The shirt was created two years ago to raise money for the families of fallen officers.

When the Twin Rivers police chief said the shirt was inappropriate, the association stopped selling it.

"We regret our mistake, take full responsibility and sincerely apologize to our community, the school district, our law enforcement partners and associations and the members of the Twin Rivers Police Department," said TRPOA President Arlin Kocher in a press release sent out Monday night in response to an article in The Sacramento Bee.

The T-shirt has not been sold for more than a year, Kocher said, but Twin Rivers Superintendent Frank Porter just had the shirt described to him on Monday, and he was not pleased.

Porter oversees the school district's police department. He says the shirt does not reflect the values of his school district.

"I'm deeply disappointed our union of the police officers printed this shirt," he said.

Porter admits the department may have hurt its image by printing the shirt.

"I think the department is going to have to re-earn some of that trust," he said.

The union president called CBS13 back late in the day Tuesday and told us he regrets the shirt was ever printed.

He said fewer than 30 shirts were sold, and one hasn't been sold in two years. He says he came up with the slogan, and that it was "poor police humor."

But that bad joke has parents questioning the true intentions of the police force.

"It sounds like that's all they wanna do, put them in jail," parent Leon Gibson said. "They don't want to make things right for them."

No disciplinary action was every taken regarding the shirts.