Controversy Brews around Holmdel’s Blue Line

Holmdel residents are increasingly upset about the blue line running down Crawford’s Corner road, stretching from the Town Hall- Police Headquarters towards Holmdel High School. The line was painted in 2016 to show support for the Holmdel police department and “law enforcement in general,” according to then Mayor Eric Hinds. The blue line’s use by white supremacist groups and rallies—including at the deadly Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally—has led Holmdel residents to question the appropriateness of Holmdel’s blue line as a symbol of police appreciation. This resulted in over 1,200 people, a majority Holmdel residents, to sign a petition requesting the line’s removal.

Following George Floyd’s death, the blue line and policing have once again become controversial topics in Holmdel. In his letter in the June issue of Holmdel Monthly, Police Chief John Mioduszewski condemned George Floyd’s killing and the actions of the Minneapolis police. He also noted that the Holmdel Police Department is in the process of equipping all officers with body cameras by the end of the year. He reaffirmed the department’s commitment to protect “everyone who lives, works, worships, visits, or travels through our community.”

Mayor Greg Buontempo and running mate Ron Emma soon followed with a statement saying that although they support Chief Mioduszewski’s calls for police transparency, the blue line running through Holmdel has nothing to do with the “current movement” mentioned in the Chief’s letter, referring to the national protests against police brutality and for Black Lives Matter. For this reason, he is against the line’s removal.

Over 1,200 people disagree with Mayor Buontempo. According to a petition requesting the blue line’s removal, the blue line has become a racist symbol in modern America. In the 1960s, “thin blue line” flags and symbols represented a respect for law enforcement. However, in 2016 racist groups including neo-Nazis began to use the flag, especially as the Confederate flag became increasingly unacceptable.

The blue line's adoption by white supremacist groups confuses those who just want to support the police with those who hold more discriminatory ideologies. During the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, protestors carried Confederate flags in one hand and Blue Line posters in the other. It’s clear that it’s not the support of the police department that is considered racist, but the blue line’s modern context. Even if the blue line in Holmdel was not painted with this intention, Holmdel doesn’t exist in a vacuum—people from other communities who have been exposed to the blue line’s modern context are drawing conclusions about Holmdel and its local leadership. More importantly, however, some people in the Holmdel community are already feeling ostracized by the line.

There is also a legal basis for removing the line. In 2016 the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration stated that filling in the gap between a double line does not comply with provisions of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD). Although this sounds technical, the Department of Transportation says that filling in the lines is a safety hazard because it can lead to misunderstanding. It also stated that blue is meant to only be used in marking accessibility on the road or in parking, making a blue line potentially even more confusing. The Department ends its letter by noting that there are many ways to support law enforcement that don’t violate transportation laws.

The author of the petition, Eileen Huang, received serious backlash for her effort. Official criticism is rooted in the belief that the blue line is a symbol of police support and removal would be equate to a retraction of support. However, some of the responses Eileen received were personal and racial. On a public Instagram post about the blue line, several high school students commented taunting Eileen and other supporters about eating “bat-soup,” a reference to Huang’s Chinese-American identity. Physical threats telling other supporters to “F*** around and find out” how racist the town is were also made. Despite the backlash, Huang notes that the petition “gained 600 signatures in less than a day, which just goes to show how much support there is for removing these anti-Black symbols.”

This petition is evidence that the thin blue line is no longer just a symbol of police support, regardless of intention. Instead, its adoption by racist organizations as a cover for messages of violence against minority communities has changed its meaning. As the Department of Transportation itself notes “there are many appropriate and fitting ways to recognize service to the public that do not involve the modification of a traffic control device.” Maybe Holmdel should think about taking this advice, and get rid of outdated symbols like the thin blue line on Crawford’s Corner.