Calgary police officers will defy order to stop wearing 'thin blue line' patch: union

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An order to remove the thin blue line patches worn by Calgary Police Service officers over concerns they’re racially divisive will be resisted, the head of their union said Wednesday.

That vow came minutes after the Calgary police commission issued a public notice stating that in the interests of racial harmony, officers will be expected to drop the crests from their uniforms by the end of March.

“People in our community have clearly expressed that the thin blue line patch on police officers makes them uncomfortable due to its history and current use by groups opposing racial equity,” commission chair Shawn Cornett said in a statement.

“As policing evolves, so must its symbols. Discontinuing the use of a symbol that is undermining some Calgarians’ trust in the police is the right thing to do.”

The civilian oversight body said the patch, which consists of a darkened Canadian flag crossed by a horizontal blue bar, is seen by police and many in the community as a symbol of respect for fallen officers and solidarity within the ranks.

And while a one-year consultation process heard exactly that, it also revealed concerns about the patch acting as a symbol of backlash against the racial equality movement.

Critics of the crest say that’s become especially true since the murder in May 2020 of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

“Support for the positive things the thin blue line represents was unanimous, while some participants raised concerns about the impact of the symbol’s alternate meanings in the community,” stated the commission.

But the head of the Calgary Police Association, which represents uniformed members, said he’s encouraging officers to continue wearing the patch, calling the commission’s decision misguided.

“There will be resistance to removing this patch, it’s an important symbol . . . There’s very strong support for this symbol,” said union president John Orr.

He said Calgary officers wore the patch before the Black Lives Matter movement was galvanized by Floyd’s murder and that its meaning to his members as a nod to the fallen and support for each other runs deep.

And he said the removal order is particularly sensitive given the recent murder of Sgt. Andrew Harnett on New Year’s Eve 2020.

“The timing of this is poor. We’re still witnessing court proceedings involving the murder of one of our own,” said Orr.

It also comes after an employee survey released last November showed morale among police service members is the lowest it has been in a decade, with just 19 per cent of respondents saying that sentiment is good, down from 36 per cent in 2020.

“I don’t think that directive will help morale in any way,” said Orr.

Though he called the commission’s decision binding, Orr said he expects many officers to continue wearing the patch, and it will be up to Chief Mark Neufeld to determine the consequences.

In a statement Wednesday, Neufeld said he’s fully confident the patch has been worn with only the best of intentions by his officers, but that outside concerns must be considered.

“We committed to listen and amplify racialized voices, and while we are dedicated to doing so, I also recognize how disappointing this decision will be for many of our officers. For them, as it is for me, this symbol is profoundly meaningful and personal,” said Neufeld.

The police commission said it has invited the police association and the Calgary Police Senior Officers Association to help design a replacement patch, though it noted neither union has agreed to participate.

“Officers in our city have an incredibly difficult job and we owe a debt of gratitude to them,” said Cornett.

“We hope we can collaborate with officers and their families to create a suitable replacement . . . so that the positive things it represents are not lost.”

But Orr said negative perceptions toward police among some members of the police commission, whom he declined to name, make that prospect a dim one.

“We don’t feel a redesign in conjunction with the CPA can happen right now without completely losing (the patch’s) meaning,” he said. “There’s not enough trust in this relationship.”

In a summary of the patch’s history, the commission said it dates to the Crimean War of the 1850s and has noble roots denoting mutual support, but that it’s also been identified with regressive police attitudes during U.S. race riots of the 1960s and the aftermath of the Floyd murder.

“Even when police officers wearing the patch are not meaning to support racist views, the connection to recent events and the visually divisive image of the symbol has an impact on people of colour and others who are not sure which of the many different meanings an officer is trying to express,” said the commission.

Given those conflicting perceptions, the commission’s decision was clearly the correct one, said Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott, who sits on the body.

“Removing symbols that have roots in colonialism, that have been co-opted by extremists opposing the very commitment to anti-racism the city and CPS have made, was an easy decision that was long overdue,” he said.

Orr acknowledged the crest has been adopted by some far-right extremists but added, “those people do not share our values.” 

— With files from Stephanie Babych

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn