Vancouver police officer is directed to remove patch with Star of David from uniform

Vancouver police say an officer has been told to remove a patch from his uniform that shows the Star of David.

An image of the officer wearing the black patch that includes the star and white bars, similar to the Israeli flag, had been posted on social media on Thursday.

The Vancouver Police Department replied to the posting on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.

It says the patch “is not an approved part of the VPD uniform” and the officer has been directed to take it off.

The VPD has previously said unauthorized patches should not be worn on uniforms.

Deputy Chief Const. Fiona Wilson told the Vancouver Police Board in January last year that a reminder of the policy had been sent to all officers, after a complaint about an officer wearing a thin blue line patch.

A report to the board said the thin blue line patch was worn to express solidarity among officers but its use had generated “controversy and concern” among the community, including Indigenous advisers who perceived it as a “dividing line.”

In the photo shared on social media this week, the bottom-right corner of the patch with the Star of David is obscured by a Vancouver Police patch.

Images of similar patches show a skull resembling the logo of The Punisher comic book vigilante character in that corner.

The Punisher logo has been adopted as an unofficial symbol by some police and military officers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press