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GREENSBORO — There's not much to enjoy about the back of a police car.


Is it appropriate to have religious photos and icons in a public vehicles, such as a police car? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.


But a Greensboro man was particularly offended when he saw a religious slogan posted in the back of a patrol car.


While a deputy was searching M. Reza Salami's car at a sobriety checkpoint last Saturday, the deputy asked Salami to wait in the back of his patrol car, Salami said.


There, Salami, a professor at N.C. A&T, saw a sign reading "Jesus is your savior" between the front and back seats.


Salami complained to the Guilford County Sheriff's Office about the sign and sent a letter to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington nonprofit that works to uphold that separation.


In a letter to the News & Record, Salami said he told the deputy, M. Osborne, and his supervisor, Sgt. J. Sipe, that it was inappropriate to have a religious slogan in a government-owned police car.


Sipe's response was that the sign was acceptable because it expressed Osborne's beliefs, Salami wrote.


Salami could not be reached for comment Friday.


Sheriff BJ Barnes said Salami asked him to apologize for offending him.


"Personally, I hate that this gentleman was offended," Barnes said. "If he is offended by that, then he should choose to ignore it."


Barnes said the sheriff's office doesn't have a formal policy on what personal effects deputies are allowed to keep in their patrol cars, but he supports deputies displaying anything that gives them comfort for 12-hour shifts on a dangerous job.


After Salami's complaint, Barnes asked deputies to confine personal items to the front of their patrol cars, he said.


But even a patrol car's front seat is government property, the wrong place to promote religion, said Erwin Chemerinsky, a Duke law professor who specializes in constitutional law.


"I think the law is pretty clear that that is not allowed," Chemerinsky said. "This is obviously endorsing a particular set of religious beliefs."


"The officer can put it on his front lawn ... but not in a police car that's used for county business," he said.


Salami, who was ticketed for having an open container of alcohol in his car, wrote to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.


Alex Luchenitser, senior litigation counsel for the organization, said it would send a letter to the sheriff's office saying the sign isn't legal.


"A police officer is allowed to keep religious materials in his own personal space, if he's got personal space where he doesn't interact with the public," Luchenitser said.


Barnes said sheriff's employees of all religions are allowed to express their personal beliefs and the issue had never been problematic.


"Religion has never been an issue for us," he said. "I wish this guy would put his energies toward something else."

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 orselmquist@news-record.com