Police Chief Embraces ​“Thin Blue Line”

In a newly obtained email exchange, and again in an interview Monday, the city’s acting police chief embraced and defended the cops displaying the ​“Thin Blue Line” flag as representing pride, professionalism, and solidarity among law enforcement officers.

A group of local Black clergy, meanwhile, slammed that same image Monday as an inflammatory, divisive symbol of unaccountable ​“us vs. them” policing.

And the mayor, who claimed to be first learning Monday about this January email exchange (to which he was copied), said he agrees with those ministers in calling for local police officers to not wear that controversial symbol while on the job.

The image in question is a black-and-white American flag with a thin blue stripe down the middle.

The debate around what it means — and its fraught historical connotations — comes amidst citywide concerns about police arrest tactics and deescalation training, as well as during a nationwide reckoning with continued police killings of African Americans.

The issue first came to the fore locally in an email exchange from late January between a concerned city resident and Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez. Mayor Justin Elicker — who appointed Dominguez to serve as acting chief in January — was cc’ed on that exchange, which has been printed in full below in this story.

The email exchange has been circulating in town in recent weeks. The Independent confirmed its authenticity with the sender.

The city resident (who has asked to remain anonymous) emailed the chief and the mayor, expressing concerns after they saw a city police officer displaying a ​“Blue Lives Matter” flag in his back pocket while on patrol. The officer next to him said and did nothing.

Given the fraught symbolism of that flag, the resident wrote, the open display of such imagery by local law enforcement signaled ​“that this officer (and perhaps both officers) will choose to stand alongside fellow police officers in defiance of a community member’s negative police encounter, especially a Black person’s mistreatment, false arrest injury, or death.”

In her email response, Dominguez defended the symbol. She insisted that the ​“Thin Blue Line” image harkens back to the Crimean War, and said that it is actually a sign of professional honor, not community disrespect. She did not offer to ask officers to stop wearing the symbol.

“The thin blue line is a symbol of solidarity and professional pride within a dangerous, difficult profession and a solemn tribute to fallen police officers and their families who have been killed in the line of duty,” she wrote at the time. ​“It represents pride the officers feel about their very noble, but also dangerous profession.”

Since the 1980s, the ​“Thin Blue Line” has come to represent a different message in both popular culture and in nationwide discussions over policing: A wall that protects brutal cops from accountability, often with racial overtones. See more below for an article on the history of that symbol.

Dominguez stuck by her initial assessment during a phone interview Monday afternoon.

“I believe that officers who wear the ​‘Thin Blue Line,’ it’s because of the love and the pride of being a police officer, which means serving the community appropriately,” she said.

The chief added that she does recognize that not everyone agrees with that interpretation. ​“I do understand that symbols that were once seen as prideful, as things evolve and as things change with where we are today with police reform, it can be taken as an ​‘us vs. them’ mentality to certain groups.”

“We need to be sensitive to individuals and to people who find it offensive,” Dominguez continued on Monday.

“If it’s something that is offensive to the community,” she said, she’s open to having conversations within and outside of the department about officers potentially ​“not wearing the ​‘Thin Blue Line’ mask.”

During a Jan. 7 CompStat meeting, held on the same day that the mayor appointed Dominguez acting chief of the department, she had a ​“Thin Blue Line” flag hanging on her office wall, It was visible in the background of her Zoom video screen (pictured at top of article.)

When asked on Monday why she appears to have taken the flag down after that Jan. 7 meeting, Dominguez responded by text message, ​“As the chief I represent both the men and women of the New Haven Police Department and the citizens of New Haven. While this has historically been a symbol of pride for law enforcement, it recently has been viewed as a symbol of division between the police and the community.”

Mayor Elicker asked on Monday if he took any action in late January after the ​“Thin Blue Line” email exchange between Dominguez and the concerned resident. Elicker said the email had been sent to his work address, where he gets hundreds of emails every day.

He claimed he missed the exchange at the time, and that he was not made aware of it until this reporter called and asked on Monday.

And when asked for his thoughts on the flag pictured hanging on Dominguez’s wall on Jan. 7, and if he asked the chief to take the flag down after that public meeting, Elicker demurred.

“I want her to answer that. Not me,” he said.

Black Clergy: ​“We Can’t Tolerate That”

During a brief press conference at noon on Monday on the front steps of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave., a half-dozen Black ministers from the Greater New Haven Clergy Association were unequivocal in their interpretation of the ​“Thin Blue Line” flag, especially when worn by police officers. The ministers held the press conference after holding a private meeting with top cops to discuss concerns about policing in the community.

The ministers said that image stokes fear and distrust among the communities police officers are charged with protecting, particularly among African Americans.

“We do not want police against us or us against the police,” said First Calvary Baptist Church Rev. Boise Kimber. ​“We want to have a working relationship.”

He said the group shared its concerns with Dominguez about officers wearing masks that display the ​“Thin Blue Line” flag.

“That is not a part of their uniform,” he said. ​“And so we’re asking them not to wear that. Because it becomes antagonistic when you come to our community. It’s saying that: whatever the police do to one of the people in our community, if there are other police officers that are there, they’re going to protect the officers.”

That was the very case in Minneapolis when three police officers stood by as former Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, he said.

“That’s what we’re dealing with. This Blue Lives. This Thin Line. We’re not going to have that. We can’t tolerate that.”

Bethel AME Church Rev. Steven Cousin agreed.

“Symbols mean different things to different people,” Cousin said. ​“For African Americans, what that symbol means to us is an ​‘us vs. them’ mentality. It symbolizes fear for us. That was the same symbol that was at the insurrection on Jan. 6. The thin blue stripe and the Blue Lives Matter flag.”

He said that many Black residents will not feel comfortable coming forward to the police to talk about a concern in the community if they know that officers are comfortable openly wearing that flag. It raises the question of whether police are out in the community to protect residents or to protect themselves.

“Symbols change over time,” Cousin continued. ​“This symbol right now, given the backdrop and this history in this past week, when you had six lose their lives to officer-involved shootings, for them to say Blue Lives Matter, that is problematic to us. That is why we continue to live in fear and in anger.”

Christ Chapel New Testament Church Rev. John Lewis drew a comparison to his son not being able to wear red or blue without being mistaken by a police officer or a community member for being affiliated with a street gang.

“There’s nothing wrong with the colors, son,” he said, paraphrasing the advice he gives to his son, ​“but because there’s a problem, we’ve got to be wise and we might not be able to wear that shirt. And I think the same concept [applies] when it comes down to you wanting to rep what you’re proud of. If it’s a problem, we need to think about that.”

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Mike Lawlor, a former top gubernatorial aide on criminal justice who helped design New Haven’s ​“Project Longevity” program, brought up the recent debate on this issue during an appearance on WNHH FM last week. He said police need to confront public perception about the symbol as part of a broader effort to regain lost public trust. ​“If you can’t come up with a constructive idea of how you deal with it, you have no business leading a police station,” Lawlor said.

Mayor Elicker: ​“I Don’t Think Officers Should Be Wearing That”

During a phone interview on Monday afternoon after the clergy press conference, Elicker (pictured) sided with the ministers in their critique of the Thin Blue Line image. He did not take a public stand on the issue when he first received the email in January.

“The officers should be abiding by the uniform policy,” he said. ​“I don’t think that the Thin Blue Line, given that some people in the community feel very strongly about what that symbol means, I don’t think that the officers should be wearing it.”

He recognized that the symbol to many officers ​“is one of pride.” He added that city police officer uniforms — including face masks during the ongoing pandemic — need to ​“reflect the values of the police department as a whole.”

On their own time, he said, officers are clearly protected by the First Amendment in their individual rights to display such imagery. But when on the clock as a uniformed city police officer, he said, uniform rules must apply.

“We need to ensure that there’s a standardized mask” as part of the city police uniform, he said. ​“There’s a process that we would need to go to to update the uniform.”

Elicker was asked for a clarification on whether or not he thinks officers should be allowed to wear the ​“Thin Blue Line” symbol while on duty. He responded by text message: ​“I do not think that officers should wear the thin blue line in the course of their duties. New Haven officers feel proud of the work they do, as they should. While I understand and recognize that, to many officers, the thin blue line is a source of pride, given that to some members of the New Haven community, this symbol is offensive, I do not think officers should wear the thin blue line nor should it be part of their uniform. Officers’ uniforms do not allow officers the ability to choose what they can and cannot wear.”

Following are the full texts of the January email exchange and other recent debate about the ​“Thin Blue Line” symbol’s meaning in the context of modern-day policing.

The Original Email

Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2021 12:24 PM
To: Mayor Elicker; Renee Dominguez
Subject: Police officer concern & need for training

Dear Mayor Elicker and Chief Dominguez,
On Tuesday, January 5, I noticed two uniformed police officers working traffic control on Lighthouse Road, near Lighthouse Park, during road construction.
One of the officers had a Blue Lives Matter flag mask hanging out of his pocket, a black and white American-styled flag with one blue stripe. The two officers were chatting cordially when I walked into the park and 30 minutes later when I walked back out.
I am alarmed by the on-duty use of such a mask by an officer (the shorter officer). I am dismayed that the second officer did not intervene (the taller officer).
Blue Lives Matter arose as a response to Black Lives Matter. The Blue Lives Matter signals to me that this officer (and perhaps both officers) will choose to stand alongside fellow police officers in defiance of a community member’s negative police encounter, especially a Black person’s mistreatment, false arrest injury, or death.
These officers need additional training to understand the gravity and the threat inherent in the public display of such a symbol.
Thank you both for your abiding service to the New Haven community.

Dominguez’s Response

From: Renee Dominguez
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2021 11:04 AM
To: [redacted]; Mayor Elicker
Subject: RE: Police officer concern & need for training

Thank you for your email. The professionalism of our officers and care for the community are my top priority. I understand how in recent times the thin blue line flag has been interpreted in a negative manner as a division between law enforcement and the community. Also the thin blue line symbol has been skewed into a blue lives matter theory, which can further divide the community and the police. However, the thin blue line origin goes back to an 1854 battle during the Crimean War, in which a British infantry regiment, in red uniforms, stood its ground against a Russian cavalry charge. The British formation became known as the Thin Red Line. Over time this has adapted to law enforcement and the red line changed to blue to represent law enforcement’s blue uniforms. The fire department still uses the thin red line as a symbol for their profession.

The thin blue line is a symbol of solidarity and professional pride within a dangerous, difficult profession and a solemn tribute to fallen police officers and their families who have been killed in the line of duty. It represents pride the officers feel about their very noble, but also dangerous profession.

In every profession, members who take pride in their work make the organization better. I am proud that the men and women of the New Haven Police Department take pride in their profession and in the New Haven Police Department. Professionalism equates to better relationships with the community in which they serve. Many of our officers wear these face masks due to COVID regulations regardless of their race or ethnicity. The pride of the police officers have does not negate their support of change, reform, and support for many of the social movements occurring around the world, that include issues surrounding racial equality.

Thank you again for your email. Please feel free to connect with me further.

Best Regards

Commissioner Lawlor’s Take

City Police Commissioner Mike Lawlor — a University of New Haven criminal justice professor and member of the state Police Officer Standards and Training Council who formerly chaired the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee and crafted then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s ​“Second Chance Society” criminal-justice reforms as a top aide — addressed the Thin Blue Line/Blue Lives Matter discussion going on in New Haven during an appearance last Wednesday on WNHH FM’s ​“LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.

This is an interesting debate.

Originally all that symbolism meant was police are proud of the job they do. But now the perception is, when you see that symbol it means you’re anti-Black Lives Matter. Then, if you’re a supporter of the police, if you see a BLM lawn sign, you assume they’re anti-police.

That’s a problem. It affects the way people act. We need to acknowledge that the criminal justice system has lost confidence of huge proportions of our population, not just people of color.

You [police] have an obligation to restore that confidence. Not just explain why you do what you do.

If you can’t come up with a constructive idea of how you deal with it, you have no business leading a police station.

Marshall Project: Evolution Of A Controversial Symbol

(The full version of this article can be found here.)

In the 1950s, ​“The Thin Blue Line” was the title of a briefly running television show about the Los Angeles Police Department, masterminded by the chief, William H. Parker, who took advantage of Hollywood’s proximity to make public relations a key part of his tenure. He also opened up the department’s files to the writers of ​“Dragnet.” Parker was known for unambiguous racism. He said some immigrants were ​“not far removed from the wild tribes of Mexico” and compared black residents participating in the Watts Riots — which stemmed in part from anger over his own department’s mistreatment — to ​“monkeys in a zoo.” …

Parker’s tenure augured a bigger shift towards militarism in police departments, which came to buy military gear directly from the Department of Defense. Criminologists Don L. Kurtz and Alayna Colburn have analyzed the language police officers use in formal interviews, and argue that the ​“thin blue line” idea is an example of popular culture informing internal police culture, highlighting ​“the assumed differences between officers and citizens and further progresses an ​‘us versus them’ mentality among officers.”

The phrase gained another boost with Errol Morris’s 1988 film ​“The Thin Blue Line,” in which a Dallas judge quotes a prosecutor describing what separates ​“the public from anarchy.” The title was ironic, if not sly, since the film depicted how law enforcement sent an innocent man to death row. …

Police officers themselves are also not speaking uniformly about the flag. Last month, San Francisco’s chief of police Bill Scott banned his officers from wearing face masks emblazoned with the thin blue line flag, worrying they would be seen as ​“divisive and disrespectful.” The masks had been distributed by the local police union, which accused the department of failing to provide masks. ​“We did it as a morale booster for each other,” union president Tony Montoya said, ​“not as a political statement.”