Waiting for the subway to shuttle him to his next Law and Order role, a brave SAG foot soldier stands up to the capricious whims of the NYPD

The last week in New York has not been terribly kind to the Screen Actors Guild. As The Reeler reported last week, the poor union was scrambling to battle a bill that would technically equalize managers with licensed agents. Now SAG is very delicately battling the NYPD in the aftermath of members' arrests for carrying police uniforms to work as costumes.

That is to say, they are handling it very delicately entirely through the media. According to Back Stage:

"The New York Police Department has changed its policy regarding the purchase and possession of police uniforms by actors and all indications from City Hall are that actors found in possession of a police uniform will be arrested without regard to any documentation they may be carrying, including permission letters signed by previous police commissioners," said SAG in an email to its New York members this week. "At least two members have been arrested in connection with this change."

SAG's New York branch president Paul Christie, ever the diplomat, straddled the line between blame and sympathy by saying the union is being threatened for doing what they have always done—even though, of course, he "more than understand(s) the police directive for tighter security."

But today in Variety, the NYPD kind of rolled its eyes and shrugged:

"I think these guys have jumped the gun on this," said Detective Walter Burnes, a spokesman for the NYPD's deputy commissioner of public information, Chief Michael Collins, adding, "There has been no change in department policy regarding police uniforms. … In New York City, you can only purchase a uniform if you're a police officer, or you can if you take your SAG card and get a letter from the police department. Not everybody who applies gets approved. I think what happened was that some actor probably was denied a letter."

SAG's spokesman Seth Oster insisted Burnes is misinformed. The issue, he says, isn't who's allowed to buy a uniform; it's whether actors are allowed to carry one.

"Look, we know this is happening," Oster said. "All we're asking for here is clarity. We don't have a problem with this if terrorism means times have changed and this isn't being allowed anymore. But if it isn't, we need to advise our members. Both of the members arrested had letters from the police commissioner."

While this is the kind of sexy call-and-response conflict that makes for fabulous media drama, SAG seems to have attained a clue that a more constructive solution may be at hand: Christie plans a meeting Wednesday to address the union's concerns and to arrange a proposal for the NYPD. At which point I can only hope an agreement takes shape—but only after a couple more days of bickering, at least one public ultimatum and a few more troubling press releases. I mean, jeez--you're actors! Entertain us, already!