For most people, on-the-job courtesy is second-nature — treat your customers nicely or they will take their business elsewhere. But for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s police union, using clean language around passengers has become more than just common sense.

Police are raising issue with an MBTA policy disallowing the use of obscene language, enacted after multiple complaints about police language use around customers, according to the Boston Herald. The policy, which was put in place in 2000, threatens suspension without pay for those caught in violation, according to the Herald. The MBTA is currently under fire in a federal civil rights lawsuit after police allegedly used racial slurs while dealing with 11 minors.

Though some officers’ past actions are not acceptable, their outcry over the MBTA’s policy is understandable. The policy overly restricts officers’ speech on the job, a tough thing to think about when attempting to control large numbers of misbehaving people. Because the policy is so hard to enforce, it is likely selectively enforced as well, making it seem even more unfair. The punishments are also excessive for such seemingly harmless activity which, while possibly turning people off the MBTA, cause no physical harm.

At the same time, MBTA police officers’ past actions are objectionable. While they are on the MBTA’s dime, they should act the way the MBTA expects them to act and should treat MBTA customers the way they would expect to be treated. The fact that their actions warranted the anti-obscenity policy’s creation is a testament to the department’s problem, which deserves attention and correction.

Their use of the policy as a distraction from the department’s real problems, as shown in the federal civil rights suit, is also not acceptable. The union should deal with their members’ problems, rather than constructing a smoke screen and distracting attention from negative publicity.

Acceptable on-the-job speech should be common sense. Instead of creating an MBTA policy directing police officers’ actions and diverting public attention from an embarrassing lawsuit, both the MBTA and its police officer union should work to educate all officers about common sense.