OCT 2020 Blues Vol. 36 No. 10

What BACK the BLUE means

What BACK the BLUE means to us. I see all this rhetoric about Blue Line Flags standing for white supremacy and that flying a flag with a blue line means I’m a raciest. Or that I’m violating the US Flag Code. That’s all a bunch of left wing nutjob BS. The way I see it, you’re either a supporter of the police or you’re not. Given that I was a cop and own a police magazine, I think it’s safe to say, I support police and the Back the Blue (BTB) movement. And maybe BTB has different means to different people. Let’s take our Governor for instance. I support his efforts to prevent cities from defunding the police and if part of that plan was to jump on the BTB bandwagon so be it. Was it a political move to keep our state more RED than BLUE? Maybe and I’m OK with that too. Regardless of any political motives Governor Abbott might have, I’d rather have a Governor that supports law enforcement than live in a state that wants to get rid of all their cops. So, when the Governor asked for support for his Back the Blue pledge, The BLUES jumped in with both feet. We created our own BTB logo and asked our Facebook followers to change their profile pictures to it through the end of October. Within hours of posting the new logo, our request was shared hundreds of times on just about every pro-law enforcement site on Facebook. Requests poured in for us to create BTB logos for states all across the country, which we did. I proud to say hundreds if not thousands have agreed to participate. And over 100,000 Texans have signed Abbott’s pledge. So, what does BTB actually mean to me? And The BLUES? It stands for Right vs Wrong. Good vs Evil. It says, I believe in justice for EVERYONE regardless of your skin color. It means I support law enforcement and the thousands of men and women who get up every day and put on a badge and uniform and protect the rest of us. And it means I have your back if you do. Simple as that. So, if you agree with what my definition of Back the Blue means and want to show the men and women of Law Enforcement that you have their backs. Put a sticker on your car. Wear a BTB t-shirt or hat. Post something positive on your local PD’s Facebook or Twitter. When you see a cop at the store, on patrol, at an extra job, anywhere, tell them you appreciate what they do and you have their back. Because ladies and gentlemen, they aren’t feeling very welcome right now, and they need our support. There are dozens of websites that sell Blue Line stickers and apparel. The BLUES just opened its own BACK THE BLUE MERCH STORE @ bluespdmag.com. Buy something and proudly display your support. Trust me you will be on the right side of justice by doing so. ** In a somewhat related topic. I was recently speaking with a TV station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area about our participation in the Governor’s Back The BLUE campaign and the history of The BLUES. The reporter made the statement “Well, now that you’re the largest ‘digital’ police magazine in the country, how do you…? Wait what? How do you know that? That we are the largest? Because Mr. Barron your publication has an average page count of 85+ pages and your competitors in this space max out at an average of 68 pages. Well OK if you say so. I really had no idea, nor did I take the *PAGE 16 Continued on Page 14 6 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 7