It has been argued, certainly- but it probably isnt a violation. But not certainly.
It probably depends on which version of the flag code you refer to. When i was a kid, i had a book about the flag code that had been published during WWII, when patriotism ran high. It was clear that you aren’t supposed to decorate with flags (unless they are properly hung, etc.) nor with things that look too much like flags. It recommended red, white, and blue bunting and scarves for that purpose.
I think the rules have loosened a great deal since then. But by my WWII book, the “thin blue line” flag would have been inappropriate.
The flag code covers actual physical American flags, not representations of the flag. So if you were to purchase a flag and then paint one of the lines blue, that would be desecration. Though as mentioned, there’s little point in talking about what is or isn’t allowed under a law that has no real teeth.
Commissioning a blue-line flag for your cop car (as my town has done) is not desecration, it’s iconigraphy. It is just (to my mind) another distressing example of the police pledging allegiance to themselves and not the country, state, or other civil authority they’re actually supposed to be serving.
The flag code i learned wasn’t a law, it was a code, a set of rules of respect. And by that (admittedly outdated) code, it’s inappropriate to wear garments that look like a flag, and it’s inappropriate to draw images of the flag that are disrespectful. And that thin blue line would absolutely have fallen on the “inappropriate” side.
I wouldn’t say never. But even I didn’t wear body armor, 95% of the time I was in a war zone in Iraq. Hard for me to believe it’s a daily necessity in Trailertown, Missouri, population 206, or the like.
And in an ideal world maybe it shouldn’t, but in our world appearances matter. Currently, a lot. When you dress and train as if the citizens you serve are enemy combatants, you’re inviting trouble from both sides. Your officers think (explicitly or otherwise) they’re in life-or-death combat and behave as such, and the civilians think you’re an evil, occupying military force and treat you so. You’ll never achieve safe, peaceful towns or streets that way.
What town is that? The LAPD has actually banned it’s use.
Note that the US Army uses a subdued US flag with only black & green.
Even British Unarmed constables wear body armor the so called “stab-proof vests” one version of which is somewhat bullet resistant.
There is a justifiable combat safety reason for that, not so for police officers.
Right, it’s not any sort of ideological signal it’s just what you do with all your patches on the field uniform.
Never said it wasnt.
Any cops use the subdued brown-and-green flag?
It’s a town that isn’t LA that most certainly uses this flag. Believe it or don’t, but I will not be doxing myself to satisfy your idle curiosity.
I will say it’s in a state where no town is ever likely to restrict how cops decorate their equipment and vehicles.