Coming at a time when we are raw from its association as a symbol of hate in the massacre of nine worshippers at a historic South Carolina Church, discussions about the history, meaning and display of the Confederate battle flag are passionate and divisive.
In July, a Minnesota firefighter was suspended pending an investigation arising from flying the Confederate flag alongside the Stars and Stripes on a department truck in a 4th of July parade. He was removed from the department, supposedly following an investigation into the incident.
What does this have to do with your department? Unless your jurisdiction has an ordinance prohibiting it, display of the Confederate flag is legal. So is burning the U.S. flag.
But your department would not tolerate on-duty burning of the U.S. flag as free speech. Do you equate the two? Would your taxpayers?
Conduct that does not fit snuggly into a specific policy forces an analysis of policies on unbecoming conduct or conduct that reflects negatively on the department.
If your department has a Confederate flag policy, let me know. I'd like to see it.