Officer wearing thin blue line patch at protest will be ‘held accountable,’ say Hamilton police

Hamilton police say an officer who appeared to wear a thin blue line patch while on duty at a encampment protest last month will be held accountable" for violating police's uniform policy.

But they won't say how many officers have been disciplined for similar infractions this year.

The thin blue line has become a controversial symbol as it is linked to Blue Lives Matter, a movement associated wit far-right groups opposing the Black Lives Matter anti-racism movement. The officer photographed at a J.C. Beemer Park tent encampment eviction on Nov. 24 appears to be wearing a small patch on his uniform showing a black and white Canadian flag with a blue line through it.

Equity-seeking groups call it a symbol of white supremacy."

Hamilton police spokesperson Jackie Penman confirmed police are not allowed to wear the patch or any other non-issued items" as that violates police's uniform standards policy.

The chief will be reinforcing the policy through a communication to our members and the member in question will be held accountable as per our discipline policy," Penman said in an email Thursday.

Discipline for could involve anything from preventive measures" to a Police Services Act disciplinary hearing, she said. Penman wouldn't say how many other officers have faced discipline for similar incidents.

Another photo shared with The Spectator by affordable housing protesters appears to show a Hamilton bylaw enforcement officer wearing a thin blue line patch on his vest. He was also at the J.C. Beemer protest. Questions to the city late Monday about its position on the symbol and how it will address the matter went unanswered.

Penman said in the past, the thin blue line has served as a symbol of respect for fallen officers who lost their lives in the lines of duty. But now, it has taken on another connotation and become a controversial symbol."

Ameil Joseph, an associate professor in McMaster University's School of Social Work, says the symbol has been mobilized, weaponized by white supremacist groups" - particularly in the context of anti-Black racism protests.

Joseph says those who continue to wear the symbol are sending a message of hate." Officers should know what the thin blue line represents now, regardless of what it stood for in the past, he said.

Still, the Hamilton Police Association stands by the symbol's past representation, saying it is a show of support and solidarity to fellow and fallen officers across Canada," association president Jaimi Bannon wrote in an email to The Spectator. Bannon added that association members are encouraged to comply with police's uniform policy.

All of this comes as police are still under fire for their response to protests at J.C. Beemer on Nov. 24 and outside the Hamilton police central station on Nov. 26. Six affordable housing advocates - many of them racialized - were arrested in connection with the two events and are facing charges of assault and/or obstruction.

More than a dozen equity-seeking groups, along with a handful of politicians, have called for the charges to be dropped and for a judicial review launched into police's actions. Neither the Ministry of the Attorney General nor police will comment, saying the matter is before the courts and the Special Investigations Unit's investigation into an injury a protester reportedly sustained is ongoing.

Protesters have said they were brutalized" by police. Images and photos show a police officer at J.C. Beemer pinning a protester down with his knee - police call it a shoulder pin but the protester said the knee was on her neck - and police tackling three protesters to the ground outside the central police station.

The (thin blue line) symbol was just another layer of violence on top it," said Joseph.

And the affordable housing advocates who were at the protests say such imagery doesn't exist in a vacuum" but is a nod to deeper-rooted issues, including racism.

It has become a dog whistle for white supremacists," said Vic Wojciechowska, a member of the Hamilton Encampment Support Network (HESN).

Sabreina Dahab, also with HESN, said to be clear" advocates care less about the imagery, more about defunding police overall and redistributing those funds to affordable housing and other social supports.

Across the country, police have been told not to wear the symbol. Most recently, two Toronto police officers were pictured wearing the patches while clearing out a homeless encampment this summer.

Erick Laming, a Trent University criminology lecturer who researches police accountability, said police need to hear their communities out - particularly when imagery sows division.

If the police service is serious about having a strong relationship with the community, especially marginalized populations, they need to listen to those voices and work on solutions to uphold that trust and confidence," Laming said.

Katrina Clarke is a reporter at The Spectator. katrinaclarke@thespec.com