‘Breaks my heart’: Boise Police ask officers not to display ‘thin blue line’ flag in public
The Boise Police Department has asked its officers not to display the “thin blue line” flag in public while on duty, including on face coverings and masks.
The decision came from then-Acting Chief Ron Winegar late last month, Haley Williams, spokesperson for the department, told the Statesman, and it has not changed since new BPD Chief Ryan Lee was sworn in July 1.
The flag is typically a black-and-white American flag with a blue stripe meant to convey that police are the line of defense preventing chaos in society. It has come to mean several other things — the Davenport Police Department in Iowa said in a 2016 Facebook post that to some it symbolizes “the thin line police officers walk daily between life and death,” while others see it as an officer’s “role of separating the good from the bad” or as a memorial for officers killed in the line of duty.
Some consider it controversial; NPR reports that it has become a symbol of “Blue Lives Matter,” a group formed in reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The decision to ask officers not to display it publicly, shared starting June 25, is not new, according to Williams. The department has never authorized officers to put the flag on cars or uniforms, and now they are asked not to display it in public.
“The decision to not put them out in public is to avoid creating any barriers or causing any division with people in our community,” Williams said in an email.
She said that flags are still allowed in the police department and that officials “understand the symbolic importance of the blue line flags to many people.”
Rumors had circulated on social media that Mayor Lauren McLean had directed the order, but her office confirmed that it was from Winegar. In a video shared with the department, Winegar said that he was deeply conflicted personally about the decision, but that it was made with input from “many people.”
He said the flag means “a great deal” to him and he even has it in his own office.
“Blue line flags and masks and just about whatever variety you may have are still welcome inside City Hall West,” Winegar said in the video, referring to the building on Mark Stall Place in West Boise where the department is headquartered. “I do ask that you refrain from wearing or displaying them out in public while on duty.”
Winegar compared it to other stickers not allowed on Boise Police Department vehicles or uniforms, including for sports teams.
He went on to say in the video that an officer working in a school district building was asked to remove a flag from his office. He did not specify which district or school, but he said it was a high school.
“As much as it breaks my heart to make this decision at this time, when it seems like our morale is being bombarded at every turn, I believe it is the best decision based on all of the circumstances,” he said. “The bottom line is the administrator of the high school has asked us to remove the flag. We are attempting to navigate through some very difficult times related to race relations in this country, as well as relations with our school partners here in Boise, and when that symbol creates a problem or a barrier for our partners externally, we need to be responsive to their requests.”
Boise has recently seen several demonstrations about the role of policing in the city. As recently as last week, activists publicly called for the city to defund the police department, something McLean and Lee have both said they do not support.
Boise’s budget for the 2021 fiscal year is overall smaller than 2020’s, but it gives more funding to the police department than last year. The 2020 budget gave the department just over $70 million, or about 29% of the general fund. The proposed 2021 budget, moved forward by the Boise City Council last week, allocates about $71.2 million, or about 29.8% of the general fund budget.
Council Members Jimmy Hallyburton and Lisa Sánchez both voted against the budget, a decision Hallyburton said he made because he did not feel comfortable moving the increased police spending forward without more conversation with the community.
The “thin blue line” decision was first reported by the Idaho Press.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
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