The “Thin Blue Line” badge worn by Montreal police officers has been “contaminated” by the racist far right, says the SPVM. Eventually, it will be banned. But chief Fady Dagher above all wants to convince his troops to adopt another symbol of police solidarity, designed by the SPVM.
This is what Mr. Dagher announced today to the SPVM police officers (in a video broadcast internally) and to Montreal elected officials (in the Public Security Committee).
In interview at The PressFady Dagher explained that he consulted long and widely to determine what he should do about this controversial badge1 worn by several North American police officers including, according to the chief’s estimate, 10% of SPVM agents.
“The original intention of the “Thin Blue Line” was good, to recall police solidarity and police officers who died in service, believes Mr. Dagher. But it is clear that this sign has been contaminated by the extreme right. »
From there, the “Thin Blue Line” badge is no longer “neutral”, he notes, and there is evidence: Montrealers are offended at the sight of this badge worn by police officers, considered being racist by many groups and people.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The thin blue line, seen here on a police officer’s uniform during a demonstration.
The new symbol created by the SPVM will be displayed on police cars and transformed into a badge that Montreal police officers can choose to wear (or not).
For Mr. Dagher, it is a “more unifying” symbol which explicitly recalls the police officers who died in service, stamped with the words Fallen but never forgotten and surrounded by a thin blue line .
Chief Dagher’s announcement is intended to be the end point in a long explosive saga (punctuated by several public controversies) which lasted several years at the SPVM and which passed through three directions (including those of chiefs Sylvain Caron and Sophie Roy): must- prohibit police officers from wearing the TBL badge?
The answer comes today, we can summarize it as follows: “Yes, but…”
Yes, the SPVM will eventually ban the crest, but at the end of a grace period where Mr. Dagher wishes to convince his agents to adopt the new SPVM house crest rather than having to punish them.
In English, we say “Thin Blue Line”: blue is traditionally the color of the font.
And in the Anglo-Saxon world, that thin blue line – the police – was once described as what separated society from chaos.2.
Over the decades, the phrase “Thin Blue Line” has become something of a symbol of police solidarity. In Canada and the United States, a shield echoes the “TBL”: the national flag in black and gray, crossed horizontally by a thin blue line.
But somewhere in the mid-2010s, American far-right activists reused the theme of the thin blue line in racist protests targeting minorities.
In 2017, for example, the American Thin Blue Line flag was brandished by American neo-Nazis in a deadly rally in North Carolina.3.
Since then, the TBL badge has been loudly denounced for several years as a symbol of intolerance4. Police officers who wear it are often photographed and denounced as supporters of racist ideology.
Every time a police officer is photographed wearing the TBL patch, it is a crisis to deal with, with officers accused of racist sympathies. The politician is challenged at every turn. In Montreal, Mayor Plante has already expressed her discomfort at the wearing of this badge by SPVM police officers5.
Hence Chief Dagher’s observation today: the Thin Blue Line badge is contaminated and should ultimately not be worn by police officers “who must serve and protect all populations.”
Fady Dagher consulted extensively and extensively. He wanted to take the time. He consulted police officers, their union leaders, experts and people from minority groups.
“I listened to and discussed with the police officers at every opportunity, such as during visits to neighborhood stations. And my observation is that many police officers did not realize the impact that the TBL badge can have on some of our fellow citizens. They carry it in good faith. »
During his consultations, Chief Dagher noted a fault line symbolized by the wearing of this badge.
On the one hand, its police officers who wear this symbol, without even knowing, very often, that American racists have hijacked and contaminated it. For them, it is a symbol of police solidarity, in a context where they feel criticized from all sides.
Ban the TBL badge outright? This could encourage police disengagement.
And on the other side of the TBL divide, racialized Montrealers for whom “their” police officers should not wear a symbol brandished by American neo-Nazis in racist demonstrations, like the one in North Carolina in 2017.
Not ban the TBL badge? This could further fuel the distrust of certain populations towards the police.
It was during these consultations that an SPVM police officer told Chief Dagher that he understood, after explanation, that the TBL badge was “contaminated”, but that the officers still wanted to wear a symbol of solidarity policewoman…
Why wouldn’t the SPVM create one?
“I said, ‘Wow,’” remembers Fady Dagher. That’s what you should do. And our Protocol has created one, which I find more unifying. »
This symbol is circular and it is surrounded by a “thin blue line” which does not “divide” anything or anyone, says the head of the SPVM, for whom this new house symbol is “neutral”.
“The horizontal blue line comes back to the separation between good and evil, between order and chaos. Back when the term Thin Blue Line was born, it was justified. But this definition is outdated. Our work has changed, 80% of calls concern mental health. And our police officers serve and protect all populations, as I often say. This circle is more unifying. »
The new symbol contains the SPVM coat of arms in its center. We read, clearly, the words Fallen but never forgotten: “More than 70 police officers have died since the creation of the Montreal police,” recalls Fady Dagher. It’s a dangerous job. One can not deny it. This is important for police officers. »
At the Nicolet National Police Academy, says Mr. Dagher, he was president of the recruit class which in 1991 financed the first commemorative cenotaph for police officers who died in service: respect for police sacrifices has been close to his heart ever since. a long time.
The chief says he personally presented the new symbol of solidarity to the families of Montreal police officers who died in service in recent decades: “The loved ones are affected: Fallen but never forgotten, it affects them directly. »
And will SPVM police officers who choose not to drop the Thin Blue Line badge be sanctioned?
– There will be a grace period, replies Chief Dagher. – How long? – I don’t know, but it can’t last for years. I believe that a year from now, few will still be wearing it. And those who are going to wear it, I will meet them to talk about it. Not to threaten them with discipline. But to raise awareness, listen, explain. If it takes two years, I don’t see the problem. And communities, at the same time, will see this Thin Blue Line sign less and less often…
1. Read The A BC of the “Thin Blue Line”: “All we want is to remember our colleagues”
2. Check out the “Thin Blue Line” Wikipedia page
3. Read the article from the Politico website (in English)
4. Read the ICI Radio-Canada article
5. Read Valérie Plante “very uncomfortable” with a controversial symbol