ISP sends 100 troopers to Republican National Convention
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — As thousands of people head to Cleveland for the Republican National Convention, some Indiana police officers will be there to help. About 100 Indiana State Troopers are in Cleveland, ready to assist Ohio State Police.
ISP said Ohio State Police reached out to them, and asked if they’d be willing to send officers to Cleveland. ISP agreed to send about 100 troopers from the Tactical Intervention Platoon.
The Tactical Intervention Platoon is a crowd control squad with special training for big events.
The troopers will help with crowd control, safety patrols, traffic issues and whatever else local police may need. Even though 100 troopers will be out of state, State Police said people in Indiana won’t notice a difference.
“We are losing troopers from the state of Indiana, but everybody in the state should rest assured that we will still be continued to answer our calls, to provide those protections if necessary, whatever it takes — whether that be increase manpower, shift people around a bit,” said Sgt. John Perrine, with Indiana State Police.
24-Hour News 8 asked if recent police killings, like Dallas and Baton Rouge, will impact security plans at the convention.
“We train for worst case scenarios, but what we saw in Dallas is like something we’ve never seen before. How do you prepare for something like that? I can tell you that the vigilance will be increased, and police officers have their head on a swivel right now. We’re looking around, but we’re still going to continue to provide those protections that people expect us to provide.The service isn’t just going to stop just because there’s a tragic even somewhere in the country. we will continue, although it’s heavy on our heart and in our minds. We’ll continue to provide those protections,” said Perrine.
Perrine said Indiana taxpayers won’t be paying for any of the convention work.
“The federal government is covering every penny of this trip, every mile that’s put on our cars, gas, food, fuel, equipment — the federal government is going to pay for every bit of that,” said Perrine.
As of right now, Perrine said there are no plans to send troopers to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Perrine said Philadelphia police have not asked for Indiana’s assistance, likely because of the distance between the two states.