OYOGist.com has learned that the Department of police that pledged to send officers to help with security during Democratic convention has withdraw their offer as over 100 agencies that also allegedly offered to help police in the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States have withdrawn their security personnels due to offer forbidding the use of tear gas against protesters.
OYOGist.com also learned that the withdrawal came up shortly after a citizen oversight commission asked the Police Chief at Milwaukee to account for why the department used tear gas during protests in late May and early June after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and to change Milwaukee’s police policies to ban the use of tear gas and pepper spray. The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission said in its order that Police Chief Alfonso Morales could be fired if he fails to comply.
Despite the event’s smaller scale of 300 people to be in attendance, police are preparing for potentially large protests in and around the venue. Former Vice President Joe Biden has said he will be in Milwaukee to accept the nomination for the Presidential race.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Police Chief William Lamb told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper that the agreements were collapsing, saying he expects other security outfits in the state to also follow suite by withdrawing from the National Convention schedule for August 2020.
The Deputy Chief Police at West Allis, Robert Fletcher further butress the point that their concern is that in the event protests turn non-peaceful, such a policy would remove tools from officers that may otherwise be legal and justifiable to utilise in specific situations. Although not all police departments withdrew because of the tear gas order. The initial plan was to have 1,000 officers on hand from outside agencies to assist with security.
However, the Madison Police Department notified Milwaukee early this month that “an accelerating COVID-19 pandemic coupled with ongoing protests in Madison” had strained its resources, making it impossible to commit resources to the convention, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
