(April 28, 2016) GOP Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump averages 15 arrests at each campaign stop.
That’s according to Berlin Police Chief Arnold Downing, who reviewed Trump’s April 20 campaign rally at Stephen Decatur High School for the mayor and Town Council Monday night.
On that day, just three arrests were made.
“I can’t say any more about preplanning,” Downing said. “We would have loved to have more notice, of course, but we had our law enforcement partners sit down and do in two days … what presidential contingents [normally] take weeks to go ahead and plan for. If the president was here, it would have been a lot easier.”
Downing said police had to play “alphabet soup,” meaning they had to work with multiple acronymic agencies such as the FBI and TSA.
Secret Service oversaw the effort, although Downing said the most of the work was done by local law enforcement, including the Worcester and Wicomico county sheriff offices, the police departments of Berlin and Ocean City and the Maryland State Police.
The Berlin Fire Company and county fire marshal also assisted, and Downing said property owners adjacent to the school granted full access to their land.
More than 10,000 people came to the event, arriving in more than 5,000 vehicles.
“It could not have been done without town staff. They went ahead and provided services with one phone call,” Downing said. “I don’t know if it would have happened in any other locale. They did it in short notice, and they did wonderful jobs.”
One worker pitched in during what should have been a day off to mow the grass of the massive field that police turned into a parking lot for the occasion.
“We found out from the fire department, if you parked a whole lot of cars running on that [field] you could have a big fire,” Downing said.
“A whole lot of folks checked their egos at their door. That included Secret Service. They came back and told us what they thought, and we laughed at them and said, ‘No, that’s not the way,’” Downing said. “Our input was very valuable.”
Mayor Gee Williams said the event was “a good reflection on the town and on the region,” that largely went off with an incident.
“This whole idea of collaboration and partnership – I think this is a perfect example of what’s possible when folks willingly support each other,” he said.
Councilmember Elroy Brittingham noted that residents on Flower Street were stunned to see Trump’s motorcade traveling down that road, towards the high school.
“And by the way, they were speeding, led by state police,” he said.
“We’ll go ahead and send them tickets later,” Downing said.
That’s according to Berlin Police Chief Arnold Downing, who reviewed Trump’s April 20 campaign rally at Stephen Decatur High School for the mayor and Town Council Monday night.
On that day, just three arrests were made.
“I can’t say any more about preplanning,” Downing said. “We would have loved to have more notice, of course, but we had our law enforcement partners sit down and do in two days … what presidential contingents [normally] take weeks to go ahead and plan for. If the president was here, it would have been a lot easier.”
Downing said police had to play “alphabet soup,” meaning they had to work with multiple acronymic agencies such as the FBI and TSA.
Secret Service oversaw the effort, although Downing said the most of the work was done by local law enforcement, including the Worcester and Wicomico county sheriff offices, the police departments of Berlin and Ocean City and the Maryland State Police.
The Berlin Fire Company and county fire marshal also assisted, and Downing said property owners adjacent to the school granted full access to their land.
More than 10,000 people came to the event, arriving in more than 5,000 vehicles.
“It could not have been done without town staff. They went ahead and provided services with one phone call,” Downing said. “I don’t know if it would have happened in any other locale. They did it in short notice, and they did wonderful jobs.”
One worker pitched in during what should have been a day off to mow the grass of the massive field that police turned into a parking lot for the occasion.
“We found out from the fire department, if you parked a whole lot of cars running on that [field] you could have a big fire,” Downing said.
“A whole lot of folks checked their egos at their door. That included Secret Service. They came back and told us what they thought, and we laughed at them and said, ‘No, that’s not the way,’” Downing said. “Our input was very valuable.”
Mayor Gee Williams said the event was “a good reflection on the town and on the region,” that largely went off with an incident.
“This whole idea of collaboration and partnership – I think this is a perfect example of what’s possible when folks willingly support each other,” he said.
Councilmember Elroy Brittingham noted that residents on Flower Street were stunned to see Trump’s motorcade traveling down that road, towards the high school.
“And by the way, they were speeding, led by state police,” he said.
“We’ll go ahead and send them tickets later,” Downing said.