Dozens of ‘Back the Blue' Ribbons Removed

Apparently not everyone appreciated the 'Back the Blue' message in one Dallas neighborhood.

Members of the Sunset Hill neighborhood crime watch spent a recent weekend tying blue ribbons around dozens of trees, stop signs and utility poles.

"Just to show our support,” said Karen Simmons, who has lived in the neighborhood all her life. “We want to show [the police] that as citizens in this area, we appreciate everything they do.”

But someone complained to the Dallas Code Compliance this week that the ribbons were a violation and needed to come down, according to a supervisor in the codes department.

According to Section 7A-16 of the Dallas city codes, titled “Prohibiting the posting of notices on poles, trees and structures,” it is an offense to affix any “notice, paper or device, which is calculated to attract the attention of the public,” to any public structure like a utility pole or street sign.

Code compliance workers began taking down the ribbons Wednesday morning. As of the evening hours, only a few of the ribbons remained.

“These were not in any way hindering people’s vision,” Simmons said. “They weren’t large bows. They were just gently flapping in the wind to say, ‘Hey Dallas PD. We really do appreciate you.’”

Frederick Frazier, First Vice President of the Dallas Police Association, told NBCDFW he and his fellow officers appreciate the gesture on behalf of the neighbors in the Sunset Hill community.

“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.

Frazier acknowledged that tying the ribbons around poles and other public property is a violation of city code, but added that he wished the code enforcement officers who took them down had used some discretion.

“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.”

Karen Simmons said she does not know who made the complaint to codes to have the ribbons removed.

But she does have something to say to them.

“I feel sorry for them. I really do. It’s a petty, petty person,” Simmons said. “There’s greater things to be displeased with in the world than some blue flapping ribbons which were really, really pretty.”

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