What Is the Police Thin Blue Line Flag Illegal
CAPITOLA — City leaders in Capitola on Thursday unanimously voted to deny a community request to fly a "thin blue line" flag on city property during National Police Week in May.
Prior to the vote, Councilmember Kristen Petersen said that, if the main goal of the flag-flying request was to provide visible public support of city officers, better alternatives existed.
"Because it has been inappropriately aligned with groups and causes that seek to divide and alienate those in our community, I find it difficult to believe that flying the flag would encourage others to join us in our support of the police as much as it would cause them to further withdraw from such support," Petersen said. "Ultimately, I feel that displaying this particular flag would make the jobs of our police department harder and not easier."
Utilizing a city policy allowing public requests to fly specialized flags at City Hall, resident TJ Welch applied for such permission in February. On Thursday, Welch spoke out during the meeting, saying the flag request was "supporting cops" and "It was never meant to be a political issue and unfortunately the city manager's office made it this way." He added that activist groups that do not like cops were trying to defund police.
"We are in unprecedented times regarding the unprovoked killing of police officers killed in the line of duty," Welch wrote, in part, in his flag request application. "The City of Capitola has an opportunity to demonstrate their support for OUR police officers that stand ready to protect our community every day by adopting the law enforcement flag as part of the Non Governmental Flag policy and flying that flag each year during National Police Week observed in May."
Capitola resident Thairie Ritchie called in to the meeting to oppose flying the thin blue line flag. He cited racism being designated as a public health crisis in Santa Cruz County and pointed to the defacement of the Black Lives Matter street art in downtown Santa Cruz. Ritchie said he felt he had been profiled by Capitola police who stopped him after reports of a light-skinned Hispanic man having burglarized a city car wash.
"So, I think incidents like that and other incidents I've heard as a black male with other black residents around Santa Cruz County, when it relates to policing, is deeply concerning as well," Ritchie said. "Because definitely a lot of folks, black individuals who commute around Santa Cruz County, have this deep systemic fear of commuting past Capitola or through Capitola, due to the hyper police presence and hyper tension when it comes to dealing with policing, particularly Capitola PD."
The "thin blue line" flag is typically a black-and-white representation of an American flag, with a horizontal blue line running through its center. The modern version of the flag, designed in 2014 by Thin Blue Line, USA, interprets the black space above the blue line as representing society, order and peace, with the black below referring to crime, anarchy and chaos, according to a Capitola City Council city staff report by City Clerk Chloé Woodmansee and City Attorney Samantha Zutler. The blue line is said to represent law enforcement, which "keeps crime from pervading into society," according to the report.
"For some, the thin blue line symbol honors the commitment officers make to their community and is seen as a symbol of police solidarity," city staff wrote in its report.
However, the flag's extensive adoption by extremist groups espousing white supremacist and anti-government beliefs, including widespread use by attendees at the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, earned it a particularly controversial interpretation, according to the city report. The Thin Blue Line, USA, has rejected such associations publicly. City staff research shows the flag's symbology dates to British battle formations in 1854 and was popularized by Los Angeles Police Chief William H. Parker in the 1950s.
This week's council discussion was delayed from the March 10 meeting, so as to allow the Capitola Public Safety and Community Services Foundation to weigh in on use of the flag. According to the city report, six of 11 group members voted to oppose flying the flag. Mayor Sam Storey, a member of the group, said he was one of two abstentions from voting on the issue. The recommendation from city staff Thursday also was to deny the request. Asked for his opinion on the issue, Capitola Police Chief Andrew Dally thanked Welch for his support of his department but noted that the flag's controversial connotations could be divisive for the community.
"Our city flag pole represents the community and as your chief of police, I want to be inclusive and really sensitive to all the community needs and concerns," Dally told the council. "I want everyone in our community to feel as if they'll be treated fairly by our police department. This proposal could be counterproductive to my goal of ensuring the community feels protected and valued."
Source: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/03/28/controversial-thin-blue-line-flag-rejected-for-capitola-city-hall/
0 Response to "What Is the Police Thin Blue Line Flag Illegal"
Enregistrer un commentaire