Flags of Canada crossed by a thin blue line were seen sewn on the uniforms of the police officers of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, this weekend, during demonstrations and counter-demonstrations around health measures. The “symbol” already very popular with our neighbors to the south is worrying on this side of the border.
The images of these rogue flags were captured on Saturday by activist Jenny Cartwright, who says she saw 5 or 6 of them, embroidered prominently. His photos circulated widely on social media over the weekend.
“For me, it is clearly a symbol of the extreme right, she tells the Duty. I know it existed before, but we saw this blue line on flags during the Trump campaign or at white supremacist rallies in Virginia. We saw it during the capture of the Capitol. Now that it has been recovered, we must stop saying that before it meant something else. She has since filed a complaint with the Police Ethics Commissioner and the City of Montreal.
Indeed, this diversion of national flags has been circulating for ten years in several countries of the Western world. Firefighters, military, paramedics or security guards appropriate this same type of emblem with a red, green, yellow or orange line, respectively.
For retired police officer Stéphane Wall, it is neither more nor less than a symbol of solidarity between members of the same profession. “We see it as the thin line that separates criminals and citizens,” he says. The thin blue line can also be interpreted as “a tribute to deceased police officers,” adds the former SPVM supervisor. “When you see someone in the hospital, on a machine, or draw a parallel with a flat line. It is a tribute that we are going to put forward. »
Stéphane Wall is sorry that this symbol is associated with a political gesture. “It is a symbol that is used by the two radical groups of right and left” to appropriate the legitimacy of the police or on the contrary to undermine it, he believes. “The police, when they see this kind of controversy there in the public space, it helps to attack us again. »
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the Saint John Police Department, in New Brunswick, have already banned the use of this flag in their ranks. Reflections are underway in many other police forces, attests Mr. Wall. “It’s tolerated in many police organizations,” he said.
Questions of ethics and law
Not all specialists in the matter agree on the right to modify a uniform in this way.
“Police officers shouldn’t wear extra flags on their uniforms,” said criminologist Rick Parent, an expert in ethical issues for police services. Why ? Because the police must remain impartial and unbiased at all times. It is in the principles of Peel. »
These principles, developed in 1829 in England, are still often cited as guidelines for police forces in democratic countries. The Ottawa Police Service, for example, makes explicit reference to it on its website.
” [La mince ligne bleue] can give confidence to the police, make them feel that they are important in society. However, I don’t think they should send a message with their uniform,” said Mr. Parent.
The law could also vindicate critics of the “thin blue line”. The law states that a police officer cannot “tamper” with a uniform, although exemptions exist with “the authorization of the director of the police force”.
Contacted by The duty, the SPVM has confirmed that this “symbol” is not part of the police uniform. “It is currently under analysis by an ethics committee,” said a spokesperson for the police force, Véronique Comtois.
The Montreal Police Brotherhood did not respond to interview requests from the Duty. The Federation of Municipal Police Officers of Quebec, for its part, declined our requests in this regard.