Danvers Selectmen Affirm Removal Of 'Thin Blue Line' Flags

DANVERS, MA — A Danvers "community conversation" about the meaning of the "thin blue line" flag and whether it is appropriate for the flag to be flown on town fire apparatus ended with the Board of Selectmen voting to back Danvers Town Manager Steve Bartha's decision last week to have the flags removed.

The vote was 4-1 to back Bartha's decision after a period of public comment in the Danvers High field house on Wednesday night.

The flags have been a source of controversy around the state this summer as police and fire unions have used the flags — traditionally viewed as a show of connection among law enforcement agencies — as symbols of the support for fellow departments and those who have lost their lives in the line of duty, while some communities and residents have determined them to be a political statement in opposition of Black Lives Matter and other police reform movements.

"The thin blue line flag means different things to different people, and it has long been an important symbol of support and solidarity for members of public safety departments and their families," Bartha said as part of his decision on Aug. 25. "Unfortunately, the symbol has also become a form of political speech in today's social landscape that has the power to make marginalized members of our community feel unwelcome and unsafe, so this week I ordered them to be removed from Danvers fire apparatus."

Brian Barry, the newly named deputy fire chief who is a 30-year member of the department, was one of those who defended the flag's legitimacy on fire apparatus on behalf of the union at the meeting.

"The public safety community depends on our network of support each and every day," Barry wrote in a statement on Local 238's Facebook page last week. "This network, and the need for it, may be difficult to understand by an outsider, but I can assure you it means everything to us on the inside. Since 2018 the Danvers Firefighters have received countless expressions of gratitude by both law enforcement as well as the general public for displaying the 'Thin Blue Line.'"

In Hingham, earlier this summer the Board of Selectmen ordered the flags removed from apparatus in that town after a resident's complaint. The board said its decision was based on a bylaw that stated only certain flags are allowed on town property.

After bristling at the directive, Hingham and Weymouth fighters did remove the flags — one of which was to be presented to the family of late Weymouth Sgt. Michael Chesna, who died in a line-of-duty shooting two years ago, and the other was given to be raised at the Norfolk County Correctional facility in Dedham.

Somerville had a similar controversy last month when Mayor Michael Curtatone ordered flags removed from apparatus in that city.

More Patch Coverage: Danvers Pulls Thin Blue Line Decals From Fire Trucks