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CA Highway Patrol Issued Document Telling Officers: No Displaying ‘Thin Blue Line’ Items

"All ‘Thin Blue Line’ paraphernalia, including anything resembling it, shall be removed immediately."

   DailyWire.com
California Highway Patrol motorcycles line up for the procession for CHP Officer Andre Moye Jr., 34, at Acheson and Graham Mortuary in Riverside on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
Jennifer Cappuccio Maher/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images

On August 14, the Department of California Highway Patrol issued a roll call briefing document stating that officers were barred from displaying Thin Blue Line items. The memo stated, “All ‘Thin Blue Line’ paraphernalia, including anything resembling it, shall be removed immediately. This includes any paraphernalia hung anywhere in the office, stickers/patches on State or personal; property that may be seen by the public during the course of duties, and email signature blocks.”

“A California police officer who reviewed the document said it amounted to an official order because of the use of the word ‘shall,’ Press California reported. The officer stated, “It’s all political so I understand why they sent it out.”

Fran Clader, CHP’s Director of Communications in Sacramento, stated, “The item … 

A CHP representative in the field told Press California that the memo was issued by the commissioner’s office in CHP headquarters, adding, “CHP wants to stay neutral and not appear to endorse any particular group.”

In mid-July, the San Francisco Police Commission, which is comprised of civilians, passed a resolution “requiring the department to put up a large Black Lives Matter sign inside every district station in the next 30 days,” NBC Bay Area reported.

Mission Local reported:

San Francisco police stations will soon display large “Black Lives Matter” posters, a move intended to show the police department’s “support for Black lives” and willingness to form policies to curb the SFPD’s ongoing disproportionate policing of the city’s Black community.

The Police Commission voted 5-0 Wednesday to pass the resolution that also commits the department to “make bias-free policing a reality” and improve its use-of-force policies. The department continues to disproportionately use force against, stop, and search people of color — especially Black people — according to department data.

The resolution stated, in part:

RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Police Department shall, in each of its district stations and within 30 days of the passage of this resolution, display a poster or sign of at least 32 x 24 inches that prominently and exclusively features the expression “Black Lives Matter;” and  FURTHER RESOLVED, That the poster or sign shall be prominently displayed, placed in a location that is visible by the general public visiting the station and at all time the sign must be unobstructed from a distance of at least five feet; and  FURTHER RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Police Department has an immediate obligation to maintain and replace any sign that is altered, including disfigurement, impairment, or fading from its original condition …

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