Takeuchi, the San Diego police spokesman, said the department doesn’t allow the display of thin blue line insignia. Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, blasted leaders who took a stand against the mask for what he said he viewed as giving in to hatred toward police. According to news reports, police Chief Bill Scott ordered officers to no longer wear the union-provided masks, citing concerns that they “may be perceived as divisive or disrespectful.” The department provided officers with neutral face coverings. More recently, in May of this year, San Francisco police officers responded to a housing protest wearing face masks emblazoned with the thin blue line flag - a display that drew immediate push back. The event turned deadly when a man plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters, killing a woman. Participants in the “Unite the Right” rally organized to protest the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. The movement was apparently intended as a response to Black Lives Matter and grew out of a series of instances across the nation in which police officers were killed in the line of duty.Ĭontroversy followed when the flag was appropriated by White supremacists and neo-Nazis who flew it among a sea of Confederate flags during a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. The flag itself emerged around 2014 as the Blue Lives Matter movement grew in prominence. In the film, the judge recounts that he was moved during closing arguments when a prosecutor spoke of the concept behind the thin blue line. In the 1970s and ‘80s, the phrase was popularized in books and films, including the 1988 documentary, “The Thin Blue Line,” which tells the story of a man’s trial and wrongful conviction in the killing of a police officer in Dallas. Parker himself made a series of racist comments about Blacks and Latinos during his tenure, including in the midst of the 1965 Watts riots. Under his leadership, the LAPD faced accusations of police brutality and racism as it transformed into more professionalized and militarized force that engaged in proactive policing - changes Parker viewed as necessary to ensure public safety. Parker left behind a controversial legacy. In the 1950s, Los Angeles police Chief Bill Parker picked up the term, mentioning it in speeches and adopting it as the title of a TV show he conceived to promote a polished image of the Los Angeles Police Department, which had been plagued by a history of corruption within the force. In 1992, New York police Commissioner Richard Enright used the expression as part of a public relations effort. It’s unclear when the adapted phrase was first used in police circles. The British formation became known as the Thin Red Line. The origin of the thin blue line dates back to an 1854 battle during the Crimean War, in which a British infantry regiment, in red uniforms, stood its ground against a Russian cavalry charge. Shawn Takeuchi said “over the years, the thin blue line has come to represent solidarity for law enforcement and their efforts to protect the communities they serve,” but added that the department does not take a stance on the issue. Greg Runge, a spokesman for the department, which displays a small version of the flag on its fleet of police vehicles, called it “a symbol of solidarity and professional pride within a dangerous, difficult profession and a solemn tribute to fallen police officers and their families.” The Sheriff’s Department, which does not appear to display the flag on its fleet of vehicles or uniforms, did not respond to requests for comment. Marcus Boyd, a leader of the group, which counts with more than 350 members on Facebook, said he associates the symbol with the blue wall of silence, an informal code of not reporting misconduct among law enforcement officers.īoyd said he believes the thin blue line breaks trust with the community.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |