We appreciate the gusto with which Natural Resources Police Officer Michael Lathroum approaches his job. But his tactics need refining, as does his judgment. On Tuesday the officer barged into Still Life Gallery in Ellicott City and confiscated some stuffed owls and a Victorian songbird display because the owner did not hold a permit for them.
Employee Eric Parnes said, “It was as if there was a drug bust in the middle of the gallery.”
We can just see Officer Lathroum pulling a U-turn and hear him on the radio with dispatch: “In hot pursuit of stuffed animals in Still Life.”
C?mon. Couldn?t he have used a lighter touch? Wouldn?t a warning have sufficed for what can only be described as a totally inadvertent mistake? How many people are aware of regulations for artwork?
Upholding the law does not mean banging people over the head with it. Officer Lathroum should apologize to gallery owner Rebecca Weber and her employees. Educating them would have been a lot more effective than taking their property and treating a collection of birds as if it was cocaine.
