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Look, I think it’s a funny picture; little old ladies with police wearing riot gear standing behind them. As if the ladies are a threat to national security? I get that.

What I’m not getting is some of the ratcheted up rhetoric I’m hearing from some supposedly on the right, using terms such as “Obama’s Gestapo” in the first comment below in the Gateway Pundit link.

These cops have to catch remarks like that all day from idiots on the left, now the right is going to start that crap too?

Many of the SWAT team members are there because they have combat experience overseas. They had a job to do over there just like they have one here.

Like it or not, whether you agree with him or not, the President of the United States needs to be protected, and that’s why SWAT was needed. Protected from grannies? No. Protected from people who use such grannies as shields to hide behind as they carry out attacks.

I expect nothing less than a 100% tactical alert from police if the President, ANY US President, is in town.

Thanks for being there, guys, and thanks for your service.

SWAT watching grannies

Snipers on the roof

Statement from the Chief of Police of Quincy

UPDATE I posted the above by cellphone, since then I found more

From Chief of Police Rob Copley:

The purpose of this news release is to relay factual information regarding the deployment of the ILEAS Region 8 Mobile Field Force Team at the Oakley Lindsay Civic Center during President Obama’s visit on 04-28-10.

First, let me say that the Quincy Police Department, teamed with other area law enforcement including the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police, worked hand in hand with the United States Secret Service coordinating the security of what I would consider a successful event. As one could imagine, the security of such an event taxes all agencies involved. As plans were being made it became clear that it would be prudent to enlist other resources to be adequately prepared for any crowd problems.

Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) is the statewide agency that coordinates mutual aid requests for Illinois law enforcement agencies. There are crowd control teams, Mobile Field Force Teams (MFFT), which are equipped, trained and coordinated through ILEAS. These teams are made up of law enforcement officers from a variety of police agencies from within the ILEAS Region where they work. Members of these teams are trained and equipped to adequately and appropriately respond to any variety of crowd control issues. Quincy is in Region 6; we are part of a MFFT in this region. Due to the number of our members who were otherwise engaged during this presidential visit, it was decided to ask for a MFFT from another region. Members of the MFFT from Region 8 came to Quincy per our request. Fifteen members of this team came to assist; they are all employed by other law enforcement agencies and were paid for their time by their own agencies.

During President Obama’s address, at approximately 1530 hours, the MFFT was deployed. A group of individuals positioned themselves on the south side of York Street near 3rd Street. This was within the area that was to be kept secure at the request of the U. S. Secret Service agents in charge of the site. Prior to the event only ticketed individuals were to be in this area; during the event it was restricted to the general public completely. Secret Service personnel requested these individuals leave the area and to go back to the north side of York Street. They did not comply. Quincy Police Department personnel made the same requests and again they did not comply. At that time the MFFT was deployed to stand post between the individuals and the site and, if necessary, remove the individuals. Once the MFFT was in place, the individuals agreed to move. Once everyone complied and the site was again secure, the MFFT returned to their staging point. No physical force was used during this deployment.

With the exception of this small glitch, the entire event went very smoothly. I would like to thank everyone from the law enforcement agencies and other city, county and state departments who assisted with this event. Thank you.

Robert A. Copley

Chief of Police

[UPDATE 2…ugh, so much for defending these guys]

Again, via Gateway Pundit regarding the Chief’s statement;

Of course, this ludicrous statement is a complete fabrication. We are currently contacting the police department to retract their statement.
We strongly object to these points.

1. Prior to the event only ticketed individuals were to be in this area; during the event it was restricted to the general public completely.
From the videos below it is clear that the restricted area was not roped off or marked as restricted. The protesters repeatedly checked with the police to make sure that they were not being disruptive.

2. “Secret Service personnel requested these individuals leave the area and to go back to the north side of York Street. They did not comply.”
We have at least three videos below that prove that the protesters asked and double-checked with the police to make sure we were following orders.

3. “Once the MFFT was in place, the individuals agreed to move.”
Once again the video shows that we were already moving from the corner to the middle of York Street before the MFFT marched into place.

Check out their videos here.

My intent was to defend those who defend us, the citizens. If the higher echelons (Police Chief) want to lie and play politics, that’s on them. The cop on the beat, the SWAT guy, the guys on the roof, are doing a job, a tough one.