By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 12th, 2012
It’s been a few days since the end of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), held between Sept. 4th- Sept. 6th in Charlotte, NC. The inevitable reviews of the DNC are beginning to make the rounds.
It appears a good number of Americans liked what they saw on their TV screens. That should be no surprise – both the Democrats and the Republicans know how to put on a good show.
But the reviews on security at the DNC clearly are a different matter. It seems that corporate types simply loved the presence of almost 4,000 police on city streets. But if you were a person who was protesting at the Convention – or if you were simply trying to get around town without too much trouble – you sometimes found the gargantuan level of officers to be ridiculous at best.
“They Answered Charlotte’s Call,” breathlessly stated The Charlotte Observer on Sept. 7th, one day after the DNC. “Of the nearly 4,000 police officers in Charlotte…for the Democratic National Convention, more than 2,000 [were] from out-of-town departments from across the country.”
The extra forces came from such places as Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Such was the breathless opinion of the city’s corporate news. But many in Charlotte seemed to feel quite different about all those police and their numerous security procedures.
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show was camped in the city for the DNC, and soon provided a number of trenchant observations.
“The demilitarized zone between North and South Korea has a lot of security. This is insane,” boldly stated one Daily Show correspondent. Another perhaps provided the most accurate visual image the 2012 DNC: a reporter wearing the needed slew of credential tags, being forced to stand alone on a Charlotte street inside a little fenced cage.
Even city residents found all the police a bit too much.
“If you should meet an actual Charlottean – and this is highly unlikely because we’re not allowed in the Democracy District during the most open and accessible convention in history,” comments Mark Washburn in an opinion piece for The Charlotte Observer, “do not be alarmed when we make eye contact and say hello.”
“By now,” continued Washburn, “you’ve noticed that our hospitality includes turning the convention area into a patriotic theme park. We call it ‘Alcatraz – The Experience! ’ ”
But one group has disagreed most strongly with the corporate media’s assessment of the massive DNC police presence: the large assembly of people who were in Charlotte to protest at the Convention.
“I’d give police in Tampa [at the Republican National Convention] a pretty good grade, but here I’d give them a D-minus,” said John Penley, a 60-year-old protester and U.S. armed forces veteran from Asheville, NC.
Police in Charlotte were continually praised by protesters for their earnest attempts to defuse passions during demonstrations – but the sheer intimidation of officers’ overwhelming numbers and some of their ‘security activities’ certainly was cause for concern, said demonstrators.
The issue of police numbers had been an awkward matter from the first day of protests. That’s when this reporter asked two Charlotte police chiefs to give a definite, accurate tally of police forces on city streets during the Convention. Both stated only that “hundreds” were in town during that time.
It was only after the DNC that police admitted to employing a total 4,000 officers during the festivities.
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Regardless, the pure scale of Charlotte’s ‘security’ only really came to the fore on the last night of the Convention. Shortly before the last major protest of the DNC, demonstrators were beginning to share with one another increasingly common stories of law enforcement whisking them aside for what they describe as dubious and unreasonable searches and seizures.
David Wasman, a demonstrator from Florida, told fellow protesters that he “and two or three other demonstrators were just walking down [Charlotte’s] Stonewall Street before police suddenly came over and started questioning us.”
“Somehow, they knew all our names before we even started opening our mouths. So they probably know more about us than you think,” added Wasman.
Protesters weren’t the only ones to notice the apparently all-encompassing knowledge of police forces in Charlotte during the DNC. On Sept. 4th – the first official day of Convention activities – this reporter met Captain Chuck Henson of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. During an otherwise straightforward and frankly pleasant introduction, Capt. Henson perhaps inadvertently mentioned to this reporter that “we’ve already looked into you, and you check out.”
Which of course is nice to know, but a little disconcerting that Charlotte police felt the need to check into this reporter at all.
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This reporter also can attest to the sheer overwhelming numbers of police on city streets during the DNC. The last major protest of the convention revealed that truth.
Just before the Sept. 6th demonstration began at 7pm, two police vehicles were spotted sitting directly across from Marshall Park, where many protesters were camped during the DNC. One policeman sat in a police car, the other in an SUV.
In the back of the police car sat a large dog – apparently a German Shepard – that barked at everyone who passed by, including this reporter.
The policeman in the SUV was busy watching proceedings in Marshall Park through strong binoculars.
Perhaps predictably, a large number of officers on bicycles came upon the demonstrators almost at the very moment their protest left Marshall Park. The police had shown up to ‘escort’ the protesters.
A massive number of police on bicycles soon were found in front, in back and on each side of the protest. Also, an impressive assembly of SUVs, at least one car and one helicopter flying rather closely above the crowd joined this generous ‘escort’…
A pessimist might feel compelled to say this was proof that Charlotte authorities had come to a conclusion: Since they were unable to cordon off demonstrations to a so-called “free speech zone,” they would use their gargantuan police forces to physically cordon off protesters from any direct contact with other human beings. This pessimist might further declare that both methods might serve to partially nullify the simple, effective power of free speech…
The demonstration eventually moved up Stonewall St. and stopped at Tryon Street, Charlotte’s main thoroughfare. Police at first made a definite stand here – three to four rows of officers blocked off Tryon. Perhaps that was because the DNC was being held just off Tryon. Or perhaps it was because Bank Of America’s corporate headquarters sits on that street.
Regardless, this seemed to be one street that was off-limits to these protesters.
We reporters soon found ourselves inadvertently caught between the demonstrators – who were stating that they simply wanted to make their voices heard by those attending the DNC, and who were getting louder by the minute – and the many rows of police.
This stand-off went on for about 15 minutes. One policeman who appeared to be in charge of the Tryon forces – an Officer Smith (in the commotion this reporter was unable to get his first name) tells reporters to clear the area, “or join the protesters if that’s your wish.”
It seemed an unusual statement to make. Besides, such a clearing on our part obviously allowed police an uninhibited access to protesters.
When this reporter asked why the media were being made to clear the area, Officer Smith retorted that it was an “officer safety issue…and that’s the answer to your question.”
It seemed Officer Smith was full of curious statements that evening.
But eventually cooler heads prevailed, and Charlotte Police Chief Rodney Monroe allowed the protesters to engage in a demonstration down Tryon Street, declaring that “as long as they cause no great disturbance, we’re going to let their protest happen.”
And so it indeed did occur – with a massive police escort, of course.
