Chief removed Bellingham Police Department sign with ‘thin blue line’ image

Assistant Chief Keith Williams of Western Washington University Police told The Herald that the “thin blue line” image isn’t meant to divide.

“For police officers, I would say they are wearing it with pride and respect that shows brotherhood,” said Williams, who is black. “(But) when it’s abducted by other groups, it devalues that message.”

Williams, who is from Missouri, was present at the rioting that followed the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

He is the author of “The Broken Badge: Re-Thinking Police & Community Relations in America” and works to change the culture of policing.

“There’s so much in the history of police work that’s been ‘Us vs. Them, and that’s something we don’t want see,” Williams said. “There’s an opportunity to build bridges and not walls.”