“Thin Blue Line”: the STM turns around and orders its constables to remove the badge

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) ordered its special constables who wore the “Thin Blue Line” badge to remove it after a report from Journal.

• Also read: “Thin Blue Line”: the STM tolerates the wearing of a badge associated with the far right

The three agents who wore the badge “were met” by the employer “a few days” after sending a reminder on October 24 to the special constables of the ban on wearing any badge or pin, explained by email Laurence Houde-Roy, spokesperson for the STM.

“As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we met with the constables concerned and demanded that they remove the badge in question, which they did,” wrote Jocelyn Latulippe in a letter that The Journal was able to consult dated November 12 addressed to Max Stanley Bazin, president of the Black League of Quebec.

The latter had intervened directly with the STM to denounce the situation in recent weeks.

“We would like to reassure your organization that we take this situation very seriously,” added Mr. Latulippe in his letter.

Times-face

This is in fact an about-face by the STM, which had indicated to the Journal on October 23 that she was aware of and tolerated these constables wearing the controversial “Thin Blue Line” patch. The symbol, which originally honored police officers who died in the line of duty, became associated with the far right in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States in 2020.

The STM refused to explain why it ended this policy of tolerance after the publication of our report revealing that certain constables were still wearing the badge, which had been banned by the employer since 2021.

“This tolerance should not have existed. Normally you have internal rules, and they must be enforced. […] It is completely unacceptable that we knew about it and decided to do nothing. Fortunately, journalists exist,” Mr. Stanley Bazin responded in an interview on Monday.

He said he was “satisfied” with the outcome of this situation which “did not make any sense” according to him.

“Public safety is better ensured, and there is less risk of an unfortunate event occurring. The rights and freedoms of people who find themselves frequenting the network are better respected,” concluded the leader of the League of Blacks of Quebec, who feared that the connotation of the symbol would lead to tense interventions between agents and members of the public. .