BRUNSWICK, Ohio --- As the city of Cleveland continues its preparations for security at Republican National Convention July 18-21, Medina County police departments are planning to keep most of their the law enforcement focus close to home.
The approach, according to officials at the Medina County Sheriff's Office and the Brunswick, Brunswick Hills, and Hinckley police departments, has to do with both resources and the county's proximity to the convention.
Limited resources
Brunswick Hills Police Chief, Tim Sopkovich, said he would have liked to have been able to send officers to Cleveland during the convention, but recent staff shortages within the department made that impossible.
"Cleveland has taken on a big challenge," Sopkovich said. "But I am in the hole four full timers right now."
In addition to working closely with the Secret Service, the city of Cleveland received a $50 million federal grant, to be used in part to train and pay more than 2,000 officers from across the state in tactics specifically geared toward crowd control and security during public protests.
"They are talking about having officers locked down for a 16-hour day (during the convention)," Sopkovich said. "My guys would be working 12 hour shifts in the township, then maybe 16 hours in Cleveland."
Sopkovich said that while the department could have benefited long-term from the training - another area that his department has had to rein in due to budget constraints - there may be spillover security concerns from the convention in surrounding communities as well, perhaps even as far away from Cleveland as Medina County.
"They are going to try to shut I-71 down, and we serve north and south of Brunswick Hills on 71. That includes calls from both residents and people passing through," Sopkovich said, adding that while the RNC is no longer looking like it will be a contested convention, protesters are still expected in high numbers.
"Cleveland is doing a good job and there are officers from as far away as Columbus and Cincinnati coming up," he said. "But the idea (of protesters) is to disrupt public service. They will test the waters in Cleveland and then say, 'where else can we make an impact?' And there are still going to be people trying to get to work."
Beyond the protests
Security concerns in surrounding communities are not limited to problems caused by protesters, however.
Sopkovich noted that some bars and restaurants are planning to stay open until 4 a.m., making impaired drivers on the road later a potential issue. In addition, he said, it is difficult to gauge how many private homes in the area being rented to out-of-town convention-goers - or how much that could temporarily increase the township's population.
Brunswick Police Chief, Carl DeForest, said his department has reached out to hotel managers in the city for that reason as well.
"We have not heard of anything specific, but we will be following up on their concerns," DeForest said. "It has happened in other jurisdictions that have had conventions that those who have rented rooms right before the convention tear them up before leaving, so that they can't be used for the (convention attendees) who are coming in and have paid for them."
The Brunswick Police Department, as part of the Southwest Enforcement Bureau, has signed a memorandum of understanding to provide tactical security support for Cleveland during the convention.
"SEB is a tactical response team that includes (members) from 17 Cuyahoga County departments and the city of Brunswick; we are the only Medina County agency," DeForest said. "We have a hostage negotiator, a bomb technician and a sniper (who are part of SEB). The MOU states that, if SEB decides to send people, we will send our bomb tech and sniper."
The SEB chiefs are set to vote June 14 on whether or not to send tactical teams to the convention, DeForest said, as the agency continues to weigh liability issues.
The SEB agreement with Cleveland, however, differs from the federally funded field force training, which relates specifically to security during situations. Like the Hills, Brunswick decided against participating in that training.
"We talked about sending some officers, but we decided not to," DeForest said. "The safety and security of our city is paramount importance."
Fewer problems farther away
Both Hinckley Police and the Medina County Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, feel the likelihood of protesters and convention attendees interrupting daily law enforcement activities lessens the farther a community is from the city of Cleveland.
"(Protesters) look at targets of interest - malls, venues for sporting events, hotels, and places for large public gatherings," said Hinckley Police Chief, Tim Kalavsky. "There are no targets such as those here."
Still, Kalavsky said, the department will be ready up to assist Cleveland and other area departments, should convention-related problems arise.
"Obviously we will look at all our protocols and make sure they are up to snuff," he said.
Likewise, Sheriff Tom Miller said that while the county may provide Cleveland some mounted officers if requested, the department's primary focus will remain local. And much is expected to remain business as usual.
"We are on the lookout for impaired drivers all the time and there are parties at houses all the time," Miller said. "So my advice would be the same as at any time; if you see something suspicious, report it to law enforcement."