JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- An editorial cartoon taking shot at those who fail to turn in violent criminals generated controversy, then a response from the Florida Times-Union.

The cartoon appeared on the editorial page of Friday's newspaper with a caption saying, "The new rule of law." It shows what appears to be a man shot, and a gunman standing over the victim wearing shirts reading "Don't Snitch."

Two young children depicted in the cartoon say "I didn't see nuttin'!" Then the gunman says, "Now that's a good little ho!"

The cartoon generated controversy on two levels: for using the slang word that got Don Imus fired from his nationally syndicated radio and television shows and for sending the wrong message.

The president of the local chapter of the NAACP said he found both the picture and the words offensive.

"I was stunned about it," said Isaiah Rumlin, president of the local NAACP chapter. "I was outraged."

Rumlin said he took calls from at least 20 angry people who also found this cartoon offensive. He said he called the newspaper and expressed his concern to publisher Carl Cannon.

"We're going to see how we can work together and alleviate this type of language in the paper," Rumlin told Channel 4.

In Sunday's newspaper, editorial page editor Mike Clark was quoted as saying he reviewed and approved the cartoon by longtime Times-Union cartoonist Ed Gamble.

"Using the word 'ho' was bad judgment, and I regret that I did not edit it out," Clark told the newspapers reader advocate. "The object of the cartoon was to comment on the rise of a no-snitching culture, something that is widely in the news today. There was certainly no intent to offend the many law-abiding Jacksonville citizens."

Gamble told the reader advocate that the term "ho" is demeaning to women, but said, "I was making a point that rappers are demeaning to women." In the background of the cartoon is a billboard displaying: "Rap your life away."

The comments in Sunday’s newspaper came after complaints about the cartoon flooded into both the newspaper and Channel 4.

"Why would you even put something like that in the paper in the first place?" one resident told the local station's Jennifer Bauer.

"That's not comical at all," another newspaper reader said. "That's poor teaching of children."