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Saskatoon police officers may need to remove a patch from their uniforms.
A report done in response to some Saskatoon police officers who have reportedly been donning patches denoting the Thin Blue Line — a pro-police symbol that has become controversial in recent years — is to come before Saskatoon’s Board of Police Commissioners this week.
On Thursday afternoon, the report is expected to be received by the board as part of the continuing discussion surrounding whether or not officers should be able to add those symbols to their uniforms.
The report itself analyzes the history of the Thin Blue Line symbol — a patch with the Canadian flag that has a thin blue line running horizontally across it — before concluding the symbol is not to be considered part of the Saskatoon Police Service uniform.
The document, which is written by Deputy Chief Mitch Yuzdepski and submitted by Chief Troy Cooper, reports the Thin Blue Line originated in the late 1800s. The symbol was later adopted by American law enforcement in the 1950s as a symbol of police courage and sacrifice.
Since 2015, controversy over the symbol has grown in response to cutbacks in police budgets. Calls for police reform in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd in the United States by organizations like Black Lives Matter led to counter movements, the report states, including Blue Lives Matter.
While the movement aimed to support police officers, these events have led to the Thin Blue Line coming to represent a polarized relationship between the police and the communities they serve, the report explained.
“Police officers in Canada who believe the symbol shows support for other officers including those suffering from PTSD, would be saddened to learn other groups have misappropriated the Thin Blue Line flag, that it can represent a society that is quite dystopian, and that for some people, it can be divisive between the police and the communities we serve,” the report read.
The report explained that consultations with more than one advisory group showed a spectrum of views about the Thin Blue Line symbol, including those who support its use and others who feel the symbol “can be associated with bigotry, racism and hate.”
Some reportedly would like to see a new symbol in the place of the Thin Blue Line as a result of the changed meaning behind the original symbol.
In the report’s conclusion, it states only symbols “expressly permitted by Saskatoon Police Policy or the regulations of The Municipal Police Clothing and Rank Regulations, 1991 are authorized to be on the uniform of the Saskatoon Police Service.”
Exceptions to the wearing of these symbols are granted occasionally, such as during special ceremonies or nationally recognized days. However, the report concluded that the Thin Blue Line patch is not one of these permitted symbols.
Saskatoon’s Board of Police Commissioners has been discussing the issue of the Thin Blue Line symbol since January. Understanding of the original meaning behind the symbol as well as concerns over its current interpretation have been voiced by members of the board.
Meetings in January and February concluded a need for further investigation of the meaning held by the Thin Blue Line symbol to the public and its impact on police perception.
In an environmental scan commissioner Kearney Healey presented to the board on Feb. 17, he noted the issue of the Thin Blue Line brings out a great deal of concern from various backgrounds and ages. He noted the lack of consensus about the symbol representing solidarity of police with each other was a concern.
“I think that this is a live issue and that we have to be very careful about this,” Healey told the board at that time.
