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Preparing for 'deadly smoke' 
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Landfill murders trial begins 
Facial recognition at border?
PM ups attacks on Poilievre
Enquirer publisher testifies
Ariel Henry resigns 
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EPA targets coal-fired power
US growth slowed sharply 
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Warriors put to the brink
Vees dominating Vipers
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Weinstein conviction tossed
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Tim Hortons the musical
Re: 'Racist' patch in Blue River (Castanet, Oct.12)
Q: Do you know what the Thin Blue Line represents?
A: The line represents the line between civility and chaos, good and evil, and the lives of all our fallen brothers and sisters in law enforcement.
The short story:
The term “thin blue line” was originally derived from the “thin red line”, which was the formation of the 93rd Highland Regiment of the British Army. The British, wearing red uniforms, were vastly outnumbered but stood their ground and defeated advancing Russian troops during the Crimean War in 1854. Over the next 50 years, the symbolism of the “thin red line” would get adopted by the United States Army but colour changed to blue, as US soldiers wore blue uniforms between the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1922, New York City Police Commissioner Richard Enright, was the first documented law enforcement figure to use the term “thin blue line” during a speech to describe the men and women of the New York City Police Department who wore blue uniforms. The term would continue to be used and began to catch on in other major police departments throughout the United States.
In the 1950s, Los Angeles Police Department began using the phrase “thin blue line” to describe their police officers as “the barrier between law, order, and anarchy”. The LAPD would later lend the term to the department-produced television show, “The Thin Blue Line”.
By 1988, the term “thin blue line” was starting to become main stream and recognized by officers and the public worldwide. The term was once again used as the title for a TV documentary which discussed the murder of Dallas Police Officer Robert W. Wood. Since the documentary and up until this day, the symbol of the thin blue line has represented not only good vs evil, but a remembrance to the line of duty deaths of law enforcement officers.
These flags have no association with hatred, racism or bigotry. The “thin blue line” represents peace, order, safety, remembrance and respect; the hundreds of line of duty deaths each year must be kept sacred and secure.
Please do not make them out to be anything other than what they are, display, protect and support this line.
Guy Pollock, retired RCMP officer
