Posted on 10/21/2008 5:25:10 PM PDT by kristinn
Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest.
Public safety officials said in interviews with The Hill that the election, which will end with either the nation’s first black president or its first female vice president, demanded a stronger police presence.
Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large black populations. Others based the need for enhanced patrols on past riots in urban areas (following professional sports events) and also on Internet rumors.
Democratic strategists and advocates for black voters say they understand officers wanting to keep the peace, but caution that excessive police presence could intimidate voters.
Sen. Obama (Ill.), the Democratic nominee for president, has seen his lead over rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) grow in recent weeks, prompting speculation that there could be a violent backlash if he loses unexpectedly.
Cities that have suffered unrest before, such as Detroit, Chicago, Oakland and Philadelphia, will have extra police deployed.
In Oakland, the police will deploy extra units trained in riot control, as well as extra traffic police, and even put SWAT teams on standby.
“Are we anticipating it will be a riot situation? No. But will we be prepared if it goes awry? Yes,” said Jeff Thomason, spokesman for the Oakland Police Department.
“I think it is a big deal — you got an African-American running and [a] woman running,” he added, in reference to Obama and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. “Whoever wins it, it will be a national event. We will have more officers on the street in anticipation that things may go south.”
The Oakland police last faced big riots in 2003 when the Raiders lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. Officials are bracing themselves in case residents of Oakland take Obama’s loss badly.
Political observers such as Hilary Shelton and James Carville fear that record voter turnout could overload polling places on Election Day and could raise tension levels.
Shelton, the director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau, said inadequate voting facilities is a bigger problem in poor communities with large numbers of minorities.
“What are local election officials doing to prepare for what people think will be record turnout at the polls?” said Shelton, who added that during the 2004 election in Ohio voters in predominantly black communities had to wait in line six to eight hours to vote.
“On Election Day, if this continues, you may have some tempers flare; we should be prepared to deal with that but do it without intimidation,” said Shelton, who added that police have to be able to maintain order at polling stations without scaring voters, especially immigrants from “police states.”
Carville, who served as a senior political adviser to former President Bill Clinton, said that many Democrats would be very angry if Obama loses. He noted that many Democrats were upset by Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) loss to President Bush in the 2004 election, when some Democrats made allegations of vote manipulation in Ohio, the state that ultimately decided the race.
Experts estimated that thousands of voters did not vote in Ohio because of poor preparation and long lines. Carville said Democratic anger in 2004 “would be very small to what would happen in 2008” if the same problems arose.
Carville said earlier this month that “it would be very, very, very dramatic out there” if Obama lost, a statement some commentators interpreted as predicting riots. In an interview Tuesday, however, Carville said he did not explicitly predict rioting.
“A lot of Democrats would have a great deal of angst and anger,” said Carville, who predicted that on Election Day “the voting system all around the country is going to be very stressed because there’s going to be enormous turnout.”
Other commentators have made such bold predictions.
“If [Obama] is elected, like with sports championships, people may go out and riot,” said Bob Parks, an online columnist and black Republican candidate for state representative in Massachusetts. “If Barack Obama loses there will be another large group of people who will assume the election was stolen from him….. This will be an opportunity for people who want to commit mischief.”
Speculation about Election-Day violence has spread on the Internet, especially on right-wing websites.
This has caught the attention of police departments in cities such as Cincinnati, which saw race riots in 2001 after police shot a young black man.
“We’ve seen it on the Internet and we’ve heard that there could be civil unrest depending on the outcome of [the election,]” said Lt. Mark Briede of the Cincinnati Police Department. “We are prepared to respond in the case of some sort of unrest or some sort of incident.”
Briede, like other police officials interviewed, declined to elaborate on plans for Election Day. Many police departments have policies prohibiting public discussion of security plans.
James Tate, second deputy chief of Detroit’s police department, said extra manpower would be assigned to duty on Election Night. He said problems could flare whichever candidate wins.
“Either party will make history and we want to prepare for celebrations that will be on a larger scale than for our sports teams,” Tate said.
He noted that police had to control rioters who overturned cars after the Tigers won the 1984 World Series.
“We’re prepared for the best-case scenario, we’re prepared for the worst-case scenario,” he said. “The worst-case scenario could be a situation that requires law enforcement.”
But Tate declined to describe what the worst-case scenario might look like, speaking gingerly like other police officials who are wary of implying that black voters are more likely than other voting groups to cause trouble.
Shelton, of the NAACP, said he understands the need for police to maintain order. But he is also concerned that some political partisans may point their finger at black voters as potential troublemakers because the Democratic nominee is black.
Shelton said any racial or ethnic group would get angry if they felt disenfranchised because of voting irregularities.
Police officials in Chicago, where Obama will hold a Nov. 4 rally, and Philadelphia are also preparing for Election Day.
“The Chicago Police Department has been meeting regularly to coordinate our safety and security plans and will deploy our resources accordingly,” said Monique Bond, of the Chicago Police Department.
Frank Vanore, of the Philadelphia Police Department, said officials were planning to mobilize to control exuberant or perhaps angry demonstrations after the World Series, which pits the Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays.
He said the boosted police activity would “spill right over to the election.”
No kidding.
I worry about her children.
Dirty, dirty politics.
now i can have them because i am a cop, but i don't think it's right.
I keep saying, there will be riots if he wins, there will be riots if he looses.
Same folks, just a different excuse.
The dimocrats have punched the race card for 40 plus years. Now, they have placed a large black and white race war right on top of the presidential election. They have padded the lead of Obama to suppress conservatives. In even of an Obama loss, they will scream racism and the war will begin. Of course, this will all be conservatives and republicans fault because we would have stolen the election from the black guy. I expect riots. I expect a hundred law suits immediately after the election contesting every vote in every big state. The MSM is going to scream racism at the top of their voice. Obama will be on every TV news channel yelling for his brothers and sisters too riot and make it right for him. Wright, Jessie, Al, Calypso Louie will all be on TV getting blacks riled up. There will be riots, burning down buildings, shops, cars, etc., and lives will be lost. It will all happen because Dimocrats lust for power does not care if blacks die. They simply want power. If deaths happen, well that is just the price too be paid.
My wife and I have been stocking up some on food so that we will not have to go to a grocery store for a few weeks after the election. I have bought extra ammo. We went to the range last week. We are going again this week. All my weapons will be loaded and ready. They come here, they are in trouble. I am not losing my home to a bunch of thugs, thieves, rapists, murderers, plunders, etc. I don't care if they are black, white, green, yellow or pink pocadotted, I will protect my own.
I built it myself. It’s essentially an AR-15 but it has a bunch of military grade gear on it and I have several different caliber upper receiver / barrel assemblies for it as well, including 9mm and .50 Beowulf. Beacoups of ammo for each too. This one is a 5.56mm/.223.
Just think, tens of thousands of soccer moms power walking wild in the streets nagging anyone in their way.
Hey that looks just like the Olympic Arms AR lying in the front seat of my Patrol Car.
We have been told that there are no leaves accepted for the first two weeks of Oct at out department and that we may be sent to larger Metro areas if needed for backup of their situations.
My GO Bag has CS, Rubber Ball Grenades Flashbangs and Pepper Ball Grenades all ready to go along with the 6-pak of 30 rounders and plenty of striper clipped ball ammo and TAP 223.
This may be the begining of the end whether “The One” wins or loses........ I dread this and am not looking forward to it at all. I see a sad day in American History coming with a civil unrest that 1968’s riots won’t be able to hold a light too. Deo Vindice “God Will Vindicate
yeah, but if history is any indication, they’ll simply burn the cars and loot the stores that are owned by other locals. therefore hurting their own community.
I believe every major City in the US is preparing for riots in the event that McCain wins.
JMHO.
We have a gun show here in S. Fl. Nov 1-2. Those are quite legal here, and from what I am seeing, that show will be quite busy.
The riots will be the next day, when the results are in.
It can start by one thrown bottle, a crowd watching one of their own getting arrested...It don't take much...Lots of anger out there. Lots of opportunist waiting.
If McCain wins, many will think the election was rigged since the MSM had Obama winning all the polls in the weeks leading up to the election.
If Obama wins, many will think it was due to voter fraud, voter manipulation etc, and they'll probably be right.
Fact is, I no longer trust the electoral process, and believe fraud is rampant to the point where it's undermined our entire electoral process. JMO.
Is that really yours?
So, riot at your own peril. I will stand and deliver for my family.
“..because i am a cop..”
Sir, you have my total respect. I don’t have the guts to do your job. Thank you for your service to our country.
Conservatives are too civilized to cause social unrest... therefore the police is getting prepared for an McCain/Palin victory...
I believe this is true. Act swiftly to crush the unrest
Like Detroit after the Pistons play in the NBA finals.
Does this mean I get a day off from work?
I’m surprised there are admissions that rioting could occur. Surely any minute now we will hear screams of racism over this prediction.
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