A Police Department Strips Away a Memorial to Fallen Officers

Maybe police in Bend, Oregon can pass out ice cream cones instead of making arrests.  The absurdities of 2020 will be broken down by historians for decades to come.  A decision by a police department in a small western city may not make the cut.  After all, there are so, so many choices and so little time. 

I woke to begin my work week and found a message from a friend in law enforcement.  A link from a British paper.  The Daily Mail.  You can read it by clicking here.  I quickly followed with a Google search and found there was very little coverage of the story in Oregon or anywhere else in the United States.  I did see a mention on Fox News.  Maybe it lasted 15 seconds.

This is a story that will soon pass down the memory hole.  The constant bombardment of this year’s bad, tragic and awful news will push the decision in Bend aside.  A decision to remove the thin blue line from patrol vehicles.  For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, the line represents lives lost in the line of duty.

Bend Police explain it had become “divisive”.  In a community of 86,000 there apparently are people who are triggered by the stripe.  Or so they claim.  Offense is one of those things we personally choose.  The blue line is a symbol about the last full measure of devotion.  Giving one’s life for another is no longer considered a virtue.

Officially you won’t hear many complaints from the men and women in blue.  Behind the scenes they’ve got to be wondering why they chose their current careers.  Public support is waning and in some cities the local government is openly hostile to its own police force.  This isn’t a recipe for success.  The criminals look on and see opportunity.  The end won’t be pretty.

https://thefw.com/see-some-of-the-changes-enacted-since-george-floyds-death/