Looking back: How Cleveland officials kept RNC safe in 2016

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Just days after the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump , authorities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have the responsibility of protecting him along with hundreds of dignitaries and visitors.

No one knows better the challenges than those involved in crafting a security plan for the 2016 RNC in Cleveland, when Trump was first nominated as his party’s presidential candidate.

The security plan that was devised here eight years ago has become a template for security measures in Milwaukee and Ed Tomba, then Cleveland’s deputy police chief and now the police chief in Middleburg Heights, has helped consult with authorities there.

“I’m very proud of the event that took place in 2016 and like I said, I think a lot of cities are copying some of our strategies that we used,” Tomba said. “The last two conventions, I have had conversations with the host cities, Charlotte and I have had numerous conversations with the city of Milwaukee and their police department and their emergency management division.”

Among the numerous challenges at the time were efforts to protect dignitaries, including visiting governors and members of congress.

Ohio’s open carry law at the time could not prevent visitors from carrying firearms in the vicinity of the RNC.

In addition to protecting visitors, police still needed to protect the city’s residents and answer calls for service.

Adding to the many challenges just days before Cleveland’s 2016 RNC, there were two incidents in which police officers were slain, including the ambush and murder of five police officers in Dallas, Texas.

“Nowhere near what’s taking place today, but it kind of raised our concerns and our security posture for the safety of number one, the public and number two, the men and women that were coming from across the country to assist us,” said Tomba.

The city also knew it was very much in a global spotlight and Tomba says the plan was to help make visitors feel invited and welcomed while at the same time managing to pull off an enormously complex security plan to keep them safe.

The plan was to have a constant rotation of officers through the perimeter.

“We did design it that way. When we had the secure area, the secure zone, one of the things that we talked about was we wanted the least amount of vehicle traffic in those areas. We thought that vehicles could be a vulnerability, so our mission was to have officers on horseback, bicycles and walking beats on foot in those areas and to have a constant flow of those three types of law enforcement throughout the convention,” said Tomba.

Regarding the weekend’s attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania, Tomba says he immediately thought of his counterparts in Wisconsin.

“Number one, on a personal level just that something like that could happen, you know, it was very disturbing, but then my thoughts really went to the men and women that are securing this event in Milwaukee because, like I said, I’ve talked to them numerous time,” Tomba said.

“I sent a couple of emails out yesterday morning wishing everybody good luck, but I’m very confident in their plan,” he added. “The men and women in law enforcement in Milwaukee and around the country. I think they are going to have a great, very safe convention.”

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