Some residents of Belleville, Illinois were furious after the town’s police chief ordered officers to put the city’s flag, instead of the American flag, on each shoulder of their uniforms.
About 100 people demonstrate outside city hall Monday evening, July 20, 2015, after controversy erupted over the change in police uniforms in Belleville.
Police Chief Bob Clay defended his July 7 memo about uniforms, saying the decision to put the city’s flag on both shoulders was about making the uniforms more uniform, and that he consulted with the city and police union before the memo was issued, according to KTVI.
“If you take that flag off the shoulder patch, you might as well burn it or put it in a drawer; it shows disrespect and these clowns in Belleville want to show disrespect,” said Belleville radio host Bob Romanik.
Belleville City Clerk Dallas Cook said the American flag should be a requirement, not an option, for the police uniform.
Chief Clay rescinded his previous memo, saying instead that officers have the option to wear the American flag – as a patch or as a pin - on their uniforms as of July 17.