City functionaries in a Dallas, Texas, neighborhood ripped down dozens of blue ribbons that symbolized support for police because the ribbons were not up to local government codes.
In a campaign called “Back the Blue,” members of a crime watch team in the Sunset Hill community tied blue ribbons on trees and stop signs to show support for police in light of the recent attacks against law enforcement.
“Just to show our support,” Sunset Hill resident and police supporter Karen Simmons told the local NBC affiliate. “We want to show [the police] that as citizens in this area, we appreciate everything they do.” (RELATED: Selfless Police Officer Rents Hotel Room For Homeless Family)
On Wednesday, however, government workers from the Dallas Code Compliance office cut off the ribbons and threw them away because they violated codes that prohibit “the posting of notices on poles.” The ribbons were stripped from the trees and signs after an unidentified resident in the community complained to the code compliance office, according to NBC Dallas.
Known as Section 7A-16 of the Dallas City codes, the rules outline that it is an offense for any “notice, paper or device, which is calculated to attract the attention of the public” to be posted on a “utility pole, lamp post, shade tree, public structure or building.”
“These were not in any way hindering people’s vision,” Simmons told NBC Dallas. “They weren’t large bows. They were just gently flapping in the wind to say, ‘Hey Dallas PD. We really do appreciate you.’”
First Vice President of the Dallas Police Association, Frederick Frazier was reported in the article that he and his force tremendously appreciated the ribbons. Frazier understands the ribbons were in violation of Dallas’s codes, but he reportedly said he hoped Dallas officials would have used “discretion” before tearing them down.
“You drive by any of those neighborhoods and you’re like, that gives you a sense of ‘I’m doing the right job,’” Frazier said. “Because now you have a community that has done hard work to show their support. And in the blink of an eye it’s been taken down.”