The Vancouver Police Department has joined a growing list of law enforcement agencies grappling with how to address the use of thin blue line patches among members.
Last week, the city's police board heard a complaint dating back to November regarding an officer donning the patch – which features a black-and-white Canadian flag with a blue line through the middle – at an Indigenous land back rally in the downtown core.
"They see service and sacrifice. They see esprit de corps as members of the policing community," the chief said."So it does have strong meaning with police officers. It's a very sensitive issue. Officers wearing those patches are not wearing them as any kind of show of white supremacy or anything like that."
He also noted that attempts to stifle the use of thin blue line patches have been met with fierce pushback. The officers' union balked, telling members to flout the directive, resulting in the Calgary Police Service pausing the requirement while officials attempt to navigate the tricky path forward. The RCMP also issued a directive against the insignia in 2020, opening a rift with the National Police Federation – the union representing nearly 20,000 Mounties – which said the thin blue line represents the role officers play “providing a barrier between social order and chaos."
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