LAFAYETTE, Colo. -- The chief of police in Lafayette is tired of the verbal abuse his officers have to suffer, so he wants an ordinance to make it a crime to taunt a police officer, according to the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper.

The newspaper reports Chief Paul Schultz recently asked the City Council to strengthen Lafayette’s ordinance on obstructing a police officer, a move that has drawn concern from some council members and the Boulder County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Chief Schult said officers have been subjected to very abusive language and this would give them a tool to stop the taunts.

Lafayette's City Council recently approved the ordinance change on first reading.

The chairman of Boulder County’s ACLU chapter said the ordinance has good intentions, but the ACLU is concerned about broadly written laws that invite arbitrary enforcement.

A final vote on the ordinance change is set for Tuesday’s meeting.

Read more in the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper.