TORONTO

Hudson’s Bay scrambled on Monday to strip caps and T-shirts that proclaimed “Don’t Talk to Cops!” from its store shelves and website.

HBC had been selling the $40 baseball caps and $35 shirts made by the OBEY Clothing line, founded by U.S. artist and skateboarder Shepard Fairey.

Both items conveyed the controversial message in big white letters across their fronts.

Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack said the clothing’s message doesn’t help officers do their jobs, particularly in high-risk neighbourhoods where there may be a distrust of his members.

“It’s a very negative message, and we have a huge problem with it,” said McCormack, who contacted the retailer’s head office about his concerns.

“It validates what some people might be saying in the community, which doesn’t make for public safety,” he insisted. “It is not helpful to police, it is not helpful to the public ... We need to protect the public, and public co-operation ... is imperative to policing.”

Early on Monday, several of the caps sat on a table on the fifth floor of chain’s flagship store on Yonge St. Just across the street is the Toronto Eaton Centre, where a food court shooting in the summer of 2012 resulted in the deaths of two men — intended targets — and the injuring of several innocent bystanders.

The revelation about the hats and shirts also comes at a time of debate around carding, a controversial police practice where citizens are stopped and questioned as a way of collecting information many officers insist is valuable to crime fighting.

HBC spokesman Tiffany Bourre confirmed in an email that the items were being axed.

“We are pulling the product from our stores and online,” said Bourre, who stressed that the “safety and well-being of all individuals is always our number one priority.”

Bourre did not respond when asked why the retailer permitted the sale of the items in the first place.

The Toronto Police Service had little to say on the matter.

“I don’t think it is for us to comment,” spokesman Mark Pugash said. “It is up to the Bay to explain why they do what they do.”

TDavidson@postmedia.com