Metro Vancouver Transit Police are the latest force in Canada to address the controversial thin blue line patch, with the board dismissing a complaint about an officer wearing one but pleading to monitor the issue.
At its meeting Friday, the board received a report prompted by a December 2021 complaint to BC’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
“This cop was wearing a white supremacist thin blue line fascist patch on his uniform,” the complaint read, with the report describing the symbol as “a muted Canadian flag emblem in grey/black with a blue line through the middle.”
While the police watchdog determined it was not an instance of misconduct, it also directed the board to investigate. The result was a document addressing the department’s current policy as well as the “historical context” of the symbol.
The report describes instances in which blue lines have been used on patches and pins commemorating Canadian officers killed in the line of duty, tracing it back to a memorial ribbon created in the 90s.
It also makes a note of the current controversy.
Particularly in the US, versions of the thin blue line symbol have been featured at a number of political rallies – including those pushing back against the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd, and at the infamous Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
“This has caused concern that the ‘thin blue line’ flag symbol signals bias, and even alliance with alt-right or white supremacist movements,” the report to the board notes.
“Police officers and their unions/associations have vociferously and unequivocally denounced any attempt to hijack the use of the ‘thin blue line’ emblem by any racist or intolerant groups. This completely unauthorized use of the emblem is seen to dishonor and tarnish its true meaning , as a badge of honor to recognize the courage and sacrifice of those officers who have lost their lives protecting the communities they serve.”
An RCMP officer wears a ‘thin blue line’ patch while enforcing a court injunction against old-growth logging protesters on Vancouver Island. (Torrance Cost)
Yoin Calgary, police have been ordered to remove the patch after a months-long struggle between the police board and the union.
The RCMP 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.”
The Vancouver Police Department is also grappling with how to proceed, addressing a complaint about an officer wearing the symbol at its last board meeting. In response, Chief Const. Adam Palmer volunteered to draft a report on the patches, including their history and “misunderstanding or misappropriation,” for a future meeting.
“It is acknowledged that the continued wearing of thin blue line symbol by police officers remains a matter of debate within the public discourse,” the report to the transit police board said, directing staff to “monitor ongoing discourse related to the subject.”
Setting aside the controversy and broader context, the board found that the transit police officer who wore the patch did not violate the force’s uniform policy. While the provincial Police Act does have a section governing officers’ dress, it does not provide, according to the report, “definitive direction on what can or cannot be worn.”
The uniform policy for transit police officers explicitly allows for two emblems to be displayed. One is the Remembrance Day poppy. The other is the Canadian flag “in either full color or grey/black with a blue line.”
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Andrew Weichel