NYC detectives’ union outraged over schools banning sweatshirt honoring murdered cop who lived in Pelham
The union representing New York City detectives expressed outrage Monday at Pelham Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Champ’s decision to ban a sweatshirt with a thin blue line flag on its sleeve that commemorates the late George Caccavale, a New York Transit Police detective who was murdered in 1976. Caccavale lived in Pelham at the time of his death.
“We are in receipt of, and are absolutely outraged by, your letters outlining your decision to ban any graphic or logo that honors the profession of policing or memorializes members of the service who have been killed in the line of duty,” wrote Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, in a letter to Champ. “At the same time, you’ve decided that the 1960s symbol of a ‘Black Power’ fist is not political, and that listing the names of people who died during the commission of a crime, being questioned by police or while resisting arrest isn’t political, either, and are permissible to wear.”
“Your thought process is, in and of itself, patronizing, ridiculous, demeaning, degrading, offensive and flat out absurd,” wrote DiGiacomo, who said the union was having its lawyers review Champ’s “edict as we believe you have grossly overstepped your bounds by your attempted censoring of personal wardrobe selection, especially since four of Detective Caccavale’s grandchildren are students in your school district.”
(The complete letter is available here.)
The sweatshirt was created as a fundraiser by Caccavale’s children and grandchildren and includes “In honor of Detective George Caccavale” on one sleeve as well as the thin blue line flag on the other.
Champ has banned staff from wearing items displaying the thin blue line flag because it is “perceived by students to be threatening in nature.” The sweatshirt as well as thin blue line masks and shirts were seen on some Pelham Memorial High School staff before the order.
The blue line flag is an American flag with black and white stripes and a blue line in the place of the white stripe below the star field. The flag was created to be a symbol honoring police officers who died in the line of duty, but has been labeled divisive and criticized by Black Lives Matter and others as a symbol of far right-wing groups, according to an article by the Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism site on criminal justice.
Carla Caccavale, who was 20 days old when her father was killed at age 33 and now has the four children in Pelham’s schools, said the sweatshirt also has “Vale” stitched on it because the shirt was created after the New York Police Department used a shortened version of Caccavale to name a K9 police dog to honor her father. All the money raised by selling the sweatshirts was donated to the NYPD Detectives Widows & Children Fund and the Retired Police K9 Foundation, she said.
Champ addressed the issue of the ban in a Nov. 3 email to staff obtained by the Pelham Examiner: “I am writing to clarify my recent decision to ask staff to remove thin blue line apparel while allowing vote shirts with the names of black individuals who had been killed by police to be worn. I recognize that in these heightened political times, these decisions, which were made on a case-by-case basis, have become intertwined and perceived by some to reflect a political leaning on behalf of myself and the district… Like many symbols whose meaning has been co-opted over time, the thin blue line flag has increasingly been perceived by students to be threatening in nature, causing them to feel unsafe within our schools.”
“We have an obligation to provide a school environment where our students feel safe and respected, and are afforded every human dignity, and we have an obligation as a district to protect them from the presence of anything that may be contrary to that goal,” Champ wrote. “It is with this in mind that I decided to ask staff to remove the masks.”
The issue apparently first arose over face masks displaying the thin blue line flag. School district administrative assistant Lois Miceli told News 12 on Nov. 2 that school district officials made her remove such a mask. In an interview with the Pelham Examiner on Nov. 5, Miceli said, “My story is one of many.”
Champ did not mention the Black power salute in her email.
A spokesman for the Pelham Union Free School District said the district would have no comment on the letter’s contents.
According to DiGiacomo, George Caccavale, who served 11 years as a transit police detective, was shot and killed during the robbery of a Long Island City check cashing company, where he was working a second job. The robbers were members of the Black Liberation Army who were caught and convicted, he said.
Carla Caccavale said her father left behind a 32-year-old wife, her nine-year-old brother and herself living in Pelham. Her father’s death was later ruled to be in the line of duty, she said.
Rich Zahradnik • Nov 14, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Comments on this story are closed. Readers are encouraged to read the follow-up stories published here on the Pelham Examiner. Letters to the editor on the subject are welcome from authors whose identities can be confirmed by telephone.
William Stark • Nov 13, 2020 at 8:50 pm
Champ is just another liberal, leftist educator who declares herself the supreme judge of morality. She concludes that BLM clothing and logos are acceptable in this age of divisiveness but that honoring the memory of a slain hero Police Officer is offensive. Champ and her intellectual wannabe’s continue to ransack the minds of our youth with their political sabotage. I remember when loving your country, respecting the flag and obeying the law were considered good character traits. Champ her actions against this student while she freely permits what many consider to be, “fiercely divisive and offensive” the BLM logo to be liberally and profusely displayed. It’s time to re-evaluate these overpaid educators and for common sense and reason to prevail.
Pat Sieber • Nov 13, 2020 at 10:30 am
The issue is clearly with the thin blue line patch, and not with honoring the fallen police officer. If the student body is put off by the patch, take the patch off the shirt and wear the shirt just honoring the officer. Seems like a very simple solution to honor a colleague while still honoring the wishes of the students at the school. I guess compromise is too difficult.
Nelson Ortiz • Nov 13, 2020 at 9:33 am
Why is everyone so sensitive?
Jennifer Ryan • Nov 12, 2020 at 6:44 pm
I believe that this letter demonstrates the lack of inclusive and nuanced thinking around these matters. We are ALL affected by the violence that our communities suffer, and we need to put an end to this dialogue of “this or that”. It is possible for more than two things to be true at the same time. Champ banned all clothing that represents any political affiliation, and did so in response to an incredibly challenging social time where race is once again calling us to show up as better educators, parents, caregivers, police, activists, and policy makers. While I do not condone censorship of any kind, we need to always consider the children first and the truth is that there needs to be extensive trainings for the police force, and educators and school leaders also need support so that these very sensitive, complicated, and historic issues can be thought through with care and compassion.
This divisive language only exacerbates the divide our children are watching, experiencing, and if gone un-checked, that they will replicate.
Let’s be better than this letter. If the police are here to protect and serve, maybe they would like to consider how to protect our children and our communities by addressing the matters at the heart of this issue instead of adding fuel to the fire.
Ella Burns • Nov 12, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Detective George Caccavale and his family are in my heart, and Detective Caccavale should be honored. However, the issue does not lie with Detective Caccavale. The issue is whether or not students in our district feel safe. As a student at Pelham Memorial High School, the voices of white students have been prioritized over students of color for much too long, and it seems as though our community is comfortable with such a fact. Our community has constantly tried to push aside the voices of people of color in our town, and that is the exact opposite of what Dr. Champ is trying to accomplish. As said in other comments, the safety and wellbeing of the students is the number one concern. Families pay high taxes in order to live in Pelham and send their children to be educated here, which should ensure that the emotional safety of all students is put over a detectives’ union’s opinions about the matter.
Being a student myself, I hear firsthand accounts of students of color walking into school and being greeted with Blue Lives Matter masks- which has not been taken as a warm welcome. There is a level of exclusion when students of color’s experiences are belittled, by being told that it “sucks to suck” and their concerns are invalid.
I ask that everyone commenting on this post considers the emotional safety of the students of color in our school district and prioritizes it over their own beliefs.
Deborah Lowery Knapp • Nov 12, 2020 at 9:43 am
I support Dr. Champ’s decision to prioritize the students in our schools. Students are obligated to be in school, while faculty and staff choose to be employed there. Students have a right to be free from symbols that make them feel unsafe and unsupported while they are at school, particularly by the adults there who are in positions of authority over them. Faculty and staff can express their solidarity with fallen officers without using the Thin Blue Line symbol, which has become a hate symbol in that it is used in opposition to the basic human rights idea that Black Lives Matter. The focus here should rightly be on the students, who are after all children. Adults who feel that their ability to express solidarity with a threatening symbol is more important than students feeling safe and supported at school is disturbing.
Liz Massie • Nov 12, 2020 at 9:24 am
While I am sorry for the terrible loss of this officer, I am in strong support of Dr. Champ’s letter about banning materials branded with the “thin blue line.” There is no place for divisive symbols in an institution of learning. Employees at my company are prohibited from wearing political slogans and symbols of any type. All the more important to enact this policy for adults who spend their days around other people’s children.
Diane Flynn • Nov 12, 2020 at 9:19 am
What an absolute disgrace. As a LEO , from an adjoining town I am appalled by the decision of Dr Champ. What is even more disgraceful is that this fallen heroe’s family live in
and his grandchildren attend the local schools… It is this mentality that villifies the police and cannonizes the criminals that has put this country in the position it is in. A very slippery slope!
Christopher Popovic • Nov 12, 2020 at 8:10 am
I have just been made aware of Dr. Champs decision to ban the wearing of any garment that displays the Thin Blue Line flag. The thin Blue Line Flag represents those men and women who would stand against those criminal elements who would plunge communities into crime ridden chaos. I have served proudly for over 23 years on the NYPD and would suggest a seminar or two teaching students and making them aware of the sacrifices often ultimate sacrifices that Police Officers Have made throughout our Nations History. The subject matter could begin with the over 24thousand names that are permanently memorialized in Washington DC on the National Police Memorial Wall. Men and women that left there homes on days that ultimately became there End of Watch. On that wall, are the names of five Police Officers who were from various departments in Texas, and were monitoring a protest, that included members of Black Lives Matters protestors, when multiple gunshots rang out. The Officers ran to the gunfire as protestors ran for cover. The Officers, all five were gunned down by militants with automatic weapons. The Officers protected those protestors without prejudice despite the crowds anti- police stances. True heroes till the end. I call on Dr. Champ and leaders off all school districts to show true courage and attempt to teach students the true meaning of this Blue Line. That it is not political., That it is not hateful. Teach your students the reason that so many people revere the line and hold its meaning in the highest regard and in the deepest places in there very hearts. Continue to rest in peace Detective Caccavale those of us still here are holding the line. May god continue to bless your family.
marilyn hoyt • Nov 11, 2020 at 9:21 pm
Dr. Champ has produced a thoughtful decision around this very complex issue. The key here is that the focus is on student and community comfort in the school setting…this is highest priority for our school system.
Raymond Downs • Nov 11, 2020 at 9:13 pm
Very sad decision by Dr. Champ and the school district! Either ban them all or don’t ban them at all, we can’t pick and choose here! That’s ridiculous!! Many people are upset over this, parents wants answers!
Ellie Spillett • Nov 11, 2020 at 8:04 pm
This is a disgrace. To wear this jacket is to honor a police officer who died in the line of duty and who lived in Pelham. Having lived in Pelham for many years, I am appalled and saddened that this could happen in our school system. Supporting the many honorable men and women who wore the blue uniform and gave their lives to protect others should be something that every American should not just be allowed to do, but should be cheered on and held in respect This is not the Pelham I grew up in, nor where I raised my family. Beyond my comprehension. Ellie Spillett
Scott Shenkman • Nov 11, 2020 at 7:05 pm
When we – and rightly so – protest against bad cops, it is incumbent that we honor the good ones and the ones we lost. Most cops are good and they put their lives on the line for us. They shouldn’t pay for what the bad ones do. So let the shirt be worn.