(Originally published in CNS News.)
On National Law Enforcement Day, the Golden Valley (MN) Police Department displayed the “Thin Blue Line” flag on its Facebook page. Most people considered it an appropriate recognition of law enforcement officers and the danger they face to “serve and protect.”
You can no longer find that image on the page. Police Chief Virgil Green went so far as apologizing for its use.
“While the post was intended to thank our police officers, it appears the image offended some who viewed it. For this, I sincerely apologize,” Green wrote in a post.
He said showing the flag was a mistake. He even provides a link to The Marshall Project article about the history of the “Thin Blue Line” flag.
While The Marshall Project has done some good work, it definitely takes a more negative view of police than it does of other organizations. The article in question tries to taint the modern meaning of the “Thin Blue Line” flag with historical connections with racists or that it has been seen being used by White supremacists today, trying to show that the flag should be considered a symbol of White supremacy now.
This is a similar approach that has been use to try and taint the Gadsden flag or even the OK hand gesture. Meanwhile, the same approach is not taken with the fact that the “Black Lives Matter” flag is flown at riots and held by rioters is not a bad thing.
“When we make mistakes, we acknowledge them, correct them when possible, and learn from them,” Green wrote in the statement.
He was referring to the “Thin Blue Line” flag, but he should also consider it in context to the fallout from his decision. He showed that his department will be quick to bow before social activists and not back its officers.
He wrote, “In the future, the Golden Valley Police Department will use images that do not bring unwarranted controversy between the police and the public.”
Well, retracting that post supporting police created just such an unwarranted controversy, and one that has grown beyond the city. His solution was worse than the problem.
For a man who said his department was “committed to improving the relationship between police and the community,” he just drove a wedge between them.
The activists will never be happy with police who actually do their jobs, and now, the residents who did support the police know that Green won’t make the right decisions.
Golden Valley is not the first department to try and ban the “Thin Blue Line” flag among officers. San Francisco police Chief William Scott felt some people (you can read between the lines “leftists who don’t support the police”) might find the flag “divisive and disrespectful.”
The Los Angeles Police Department in January removed the flag from public areas in the department after it received a complaint saying it stood for “violent, extremist views,” according to Fox News.
If the police won’t support police, then the public won’t either. That’s why leftists complain about symbols of support for them.
What needs to happen is that every time another activist calls the flag a symbol of White supremecy or a department bans the flag, the public should buy and display even more and show the police we support what they do for us.
