Vancouver city councillor defends wearing controversial thin blue line police patch | 24CA News
A Vancouver metropolis councillor who not too long ago retired as a police officer is defending his option to put on a skinny blue line patch. The metropolis’s new mayor, Ken Sim, can also be supporting Coun. Brian Montague’s use of the controversial image.
Montague was pictured sporting the patch in a put up on social media by fellow ABC Vancouver get together Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung on Saturday whereas the 2 had been collaborating in a strolling tour of the Gastown neighbourhood.
The skinny blue line image features a monochromatic Canadian flag with a horizontal blue line operating throughout the centre. Despite its significance for a lot of officers, some police departments throughout the nation have ordered their members to not put on it on their uniforms, attributable to the way it’s perceived within the communities they’re tasked with policing.
In response to Kirby-Yung’s put up, a number of individuals addressed Montague’s skinny blue line patch.
“Why is one of the councillors wearing a white supremacist symbol?” requested Twitter person @UrethraFranken
Why is likely one of the councilors sporting a white supremacist image?
—@UrethraFranken
“I was at this event and very nearly chose to duck out of the group picture when I spotted that a sitting ABC councillor was wearing a thin blue line patch. I’m now really regretting that I didn’t have the courage to do so. It’s gross, and ABC should be ashamed of this,” mentioned James Marshall, who makes use of the Twitter deal with, @JamesWestEnd.
I used to be at this occasion and really practically selected to duck out of the group image, after I noticed {that a} sitting ABC councilor was sporting a skinny blue line patch. I’m now actually regretting that I did not have the braveness to take action.<br><br>It’s gross, and ABC ought to be ashamed of this.
—@JamesWestEnd
Montague responded to at least one put up about its use, saying that “it symbolizes a line of dedicated people who protect.”
“It is a memorial to many of the friends and colleagues I have lost. It symbolizes courage and sacrifice. I earned the right to wear it. How dare you, or anyone, attempt to redefine, hijack, or appropriate my symbol.”
The former Vancouver Police Department spokesperson, who gained election to council in October, declined an interview request from 24CA News, saying in an e mail, “Those who don’t like the police have provided their opinion, but I don’t think I need to say any more than I already have — my position is pretty clear.”
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s workplace additionally declined an interview request on his behalf and despatched a brief written assertion.
“As a veteran of the Vancouver Police Department, Coun. Montague wears the patch as a memorial for the many friends and colleagues that he and countless other officers have lost over the years — We stand by Councillor Montague’s choice to wear the patch,” mentioned Sim.
“We condemn those who attempt to redefine or co-opt the thin blue line symbol for hatred or political purposes.”
Divisive historical past of the image
According to Martin Andresen, professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, the “divisive” skinny blue line image has a historical past that goes again greater than 100 years and has ties to colonial oppression. Andresen mentioned it extra not too long ago turned distinguished after George Floyd’s homicide by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2020.
Floyd’s killing led to world protests tied to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) motion, which highlighted the discrimination, inequality and racism skilled by Black individuals.
In response to the BLM motion, some teams turned to slogans like All Lives Matter — which is seen by many as a provocative rebuttal to the concept Black lives matter — and used symbols like the skinny blue line and a model of Marvel’s Punisher cranium.
“The police have a long history of brutalizing, incarcerating, killing … people of colour,” mentioned Andresen, including that in Canada, it’s typically Indigenous individuals who disproportionately expertise this.
Police ordered to not put on the skinny blue line
Despite its significance for law enforcement officials — and former officers like Montague — many police departments have ordered their members to not put on the skinny blue line patch on their uniforms or put decals of the image on automobiles and gear.
In March, the Calgary Police Commission determined to ban the patch from officers’ uniforms. After resistance from the Calgary Police Association, members had been allowed to put on the patch when in plain garments or formal uniforms however not common obligation uniforms.
The fee’s assertion asserting the choice included historic context explaining why many individuals discover the skinny blue line problematic.
“The historical roots of the thin blue line are in colonial ideals that have caused immense suffering for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and people of colour all around the world,” the fee mentioned.
“This ‘us versus them’ battle line depiction of policing inherent in the thin blue line is not consistent with the modern understanding that our world is not so easily divided into good and bad people,” it mentioned.
In 2020, the RCMP directed its members to not put on the image. That resolution was opposed by the National Police Federation, which inspired its front-line members to put on a federation patch bisected by a skinny blue line.
In Vancouver, the police division has not decided in regards to the patch.
“It’s a very sensitive issue,” mentioned Chief Const. Adam Palmer throughout a Vancouver Police Board assembly in April.
“Officers wearing those patches are not wearing them as any sort of show of white supremacy.”
