The Laguna Beach Police Department is facing backlash for painting a portion of its fleet of 11 squad cars with American flag graphics and is now reconsidering the decision, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The city council will take up the issue in its April 16 meeting.
One resident described the graphic as too “aggressive.”
“We have such an amazing community of artists here, and I thought the aesthetic didn’t really represent our community,” artist Carrie Woodburn said during a March hearing. “It feels very aggressive.”
Councilman Peter Blake said the criticism was exaggerated.
“People are screaming that the American flag on a police car is somehow or another ... hurting people’s feelings who might be immigrants or visitors,” he said. “People are actually ridiculous enough to bring up comments about our cop cars having American flags on them.”
Only seven of the fleet cars have the updated design.
Attorney Jennifer Welsh Zieter suggested residents’ issues with the flag stemmed from their dislike of President Donald Trump.
“They are so filled with hatred toward this … office of the president of the United States and the current occupant of that office that they cannot see through their current biases to realize that a police vehicle with the American flag is the ultimate expression,” she said at the March council meeting.
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