Pride police told them not to wear the Thin Blue Line decal

Police officers are prohibited from wearing a badge in memory of colleagues killed in the line of duty – in case it offends the LGBT+ community.

Families of fallen officers reacted angrily today to the “totally insane” order that Met officers are not allowed to wear the Thin Blue Line decal – a black and white Union flag with a thin horizontal blue line – while on duty during Pride Day. celebrations in London.

The badge is intended as “a mark of remembrance and respect” for those who paid the ultimate price to maintain law and order, but a similar symbol, based on the US Stars and Stripes, has been associated with transphobic far-right groups in the US.

In an impassioned defense of the British badge, Debbie Adlam, the mother of slain police officer Andrew Harper, said it was a symbol of her son’s “commitment to the force.”

She told The Mail on Sunday: “Since we lost Andrew, we’ve regarded the Thin Blue Line image as a universal memorial to the loss of these officers.”

Politicians, senior officers and campaigners also condemned the decision. A former officer, Henry Miller, said the Met had “gone crazy over this.”

Mr Miller, who founded the Fair Cop campaign group for free speech, added: ‘No one in this country is saying the Thin Blue Line is political. It’s totally crazy. We’ve seen agents wear all sorts of badges related to political causes, none of which they should.

“But the only thing the police should be able to do is remember their own colleagues.”

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel said, “This is the result of vested interest groups inflicting political correction and false narratives on our hard-working police officers.” She added that the badge was “a mark of respect in police work for the sacrifices our police officers make for their service and the threats they face day in and day out.”

In a murder that shocked the country, 28-year-old PC Harper was dragged to his death by teenagers in a getaway car following a burglary in Berkshire in 2019.

His mother Debbie said: ‘It worries me that there are people who want to take [the badge] away. I hope today is not the beginning of the end for the Thin Blue Line and all it means to us in the UK.”

More than 1.5 million people took part in London’s Pride March yesterday in Britain’s largest-ever celebration of the LGBT+ community.

Advice from the Met Commander prior to the celebration read: ‘No “Thin Blue Line” badges/patches may be worn while overseeing this event.

These have been associated with far-right and anti-trans groups in the US and this year’s Pride focuses heavily on the trans community. This is non-negotiable and supervisors are expected to ensure compliance.’

Of the hundreds of officers who controlled the march, none appeared to be wearing Thin Blue Line insignia.

But Paul Deller, general secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents more than 30,000 officers, said: “We believe this symbol shows the pride of our nation and the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the public. ‘

And former Detective Superintendent Paul Maleary, from Essex, said: ‘There are gay officers, black officers and officers of every kind imaginable who proudly wear this badge. I have trans friends who wear the Thin Blue Line badge.

It is a badge of honor and is worn to commemorate the fallen within the British police force. It has nothing to do with politics or the United States.”

Their comments were echoed by Bryn Hughes, whose daughter Nicola Hughes was killed in a gun and grenade ambush in Tameside, Greater Manchester, in 2012 along with fellow police officer Fiona Bone.

He said: ‘The symbol represents a blue line of police officers, and when you lose someone, as I did, that meaning is important.

“I wouldn’t consider it far right, and the vast majority of officers will be sensitive to those issues.”

Miranda Yardley, who was born male but now describes herself as a post-operative transsexual, said: ‘I wouldn’t be offended in the slightest by this badge. Everyone knows that the police have a difficult job.

“The Met leadership has to solve its own problems — like all cases of sexual misconduct.” In the US, the badge originated around 2014 when the Blue Lives Matter movement rose to prominence.

The movement was in response to Black Lives Matter and followed the deaths of several police officers in the line of duty. Controversy ensued when the flag was used by white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

But in Britain it has been worn by officers since about 2015 and has never been politicised.

Last year, the mayor of London’s spokesperson said it was “widely accepted as a show of camaraderie among the police family and in support of a number of police charities, including those for the survivors of officers killed in the line of duty.”

Some police forces, such as Hertfordshire, have banned officers from wearing the badge in official uniform policies, while others, such as Lancashire, specifically allow it.

Most, however, leave it to the discretion of the chiefs of police and do not include it in written directives.

Last week, Essex Police Chief Ben-Julian Harrington posted a photo on social media of his tactical vest and his Thin Blue Line badge, saying it was “a reminder of those on the force who are the ultimate sacrifice’.

The Met Police’s dress code urges officers not to wear badges that advertise charities, beliefs or causes. They distract from our corporate identity and affect the impartiality of the organization [Met]’.

But troops across the UK have decorated patrol cars with rainbow flags in support of LGBT rights, while officers have taken to the knees at Black Lives Matter rallies – both seen as political gestures.

Tory MP Tim Loughton said: ‘Wake forces are trying to discredit a symbol associated with raising money to help the families of those who have fallen in the line of duty.

“If only those awake warriors in charge of law and order put as much effort into catching criminals as they do about showing everyone how PC they are, maybe crime would be under control.”