The police chief at the University of Wisconsin-Madison banned officers from using images of the “Thin Blue Line” while on duty.
Boss Kristen Roman informed officials about the ban in a January 15 email that went public this week.
The department faced criticism in November during a Photograph posted on his Twitter account that showed a “Thin Blue Line” flag displayed in the police department’s office.
The “Thin Blue Line” flag, which resembles an American flag, but has a blue stripe, is a sign of support for law enforcement, but also came to signal opposition to the racial justice movement and a symbol of white supremacy or support for Azul Vidas Matter cause.
Roman said the flag was “co-opted” by extremists with “hateful ideologies” in promoting their views that “go against” the department’s “core values” and that impedes “our efforts to build trust”.
“Guided by our core values, my responsibility to ensure your safety in the best possible way, and from what I believe in my heart is the right thing to do in the current circumstances, I am motivated to enact specific measures to distance UWPD from images of blue lines and the fear and mistrust that this evokes today for many in our community, “she wrote.
She said she understood the complexity and sensitivity of the problem.
“The attempts I have made to point out distinctions and true meaning, as well as to denounce acts committed under the thin blue flag nationally, continue to fail in ways that I cannot just ignore,” she wrote. “The balance has collapsed and we must consider the cost of holding on to a symbol that is undeniably and inextricably linked to actions and beliefs antithetical to UWPD values.”
Roman said that public display of “Thin Blue Line” images – flags, pins, bracelets, notebooks, coffee mugs and decals – are not allowed during service. She said there would be exceptions for specific displays of events, such as observances of death while doing duty.
Officers with “Thin Blue Line” tattoos are not required to cover them, she said, adding: “My intention is not to completely reject the symbol for what we understand it to represent, nor do I believe that it is inherently racist / fascist with so many meanings.”
Instead, she said, her “intention is to be reasonably sensitive to the harmful impact on many in our community for whom the visible symbol has a very different meaning.”
Roman mentioned that the flags were waved by “extremists” in the “uprising” at the United States Capitol on January 6.
She also urged officials to carefully consider the ways in which they “relate to those who defend antithetical ideologies” to the central values of the department and the constitution they have sworn to defend.
“Be aware of the consequences that youthful interaction, selfies and the like will have for the department and our wider community in the context of everything I pointed out in this not-so-brief email,” she said.
Some police officers on duty were criticized – including one who posed for a selfie with the mostly white crowd – by President-elect Joseph R. Biden and many others for their response to the pro-Trump rioters who invaded the Capitol.
“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would not have been treated very, very differently from the crowd of thugs who invaded the Capitol,” said Biden the day after the attack. “We all know that this is true and it is unacceptable.”
Five people, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, died in events related to the attack.
Roman concluded her e-mail saying that she understood that her decision could upset or irritate some policemen and that she felt “hurt and disappointed when we confront our current reality”.
“I know it is difficult. I know that this issue is complicated. I also know that a symbol is not what holds us together or makes us a team,” she said. “Instead, it is our shared commitment to serve and, above all, to do what is best for our community.”
