If the security goal during the Republican National Convention was to prevent disruption to the delegates, avoid serious injuries and protect property, then mission accomplished, St. Paul's police chief said Wednesday.
In front of the City Council, Chief John Harrington gave a preliminary recap of police operations during the RNC, held Sept. 1-4 at the Xcel Energy Center. He spoke with council members for more than an hour, the first lengthy public briefing he has given since the convention, which drew tens of thousands of visitors, protesters and news media members.
He praised officers for using restraint and said security was, on the whole, a success. Meanwhile, about 50 people gathered outside City Hall to protest police brutality.
Mayor Chris Coleman and others hailed the convention as a success that put the city on the world stage. But some residents and protesters haven't reacted so warmly. Police have been accused of making unnecessary arrests, using excessive force and wantonly deploying crowd-control devices. Preconvention raids drew outrage.
Harrington said rioters assaulted peaceful protesters, broke windows of businesses and threw urine and feces on officers. More than 800 people were arrested, and rioters caused $69,000 in damage to property, he said.
There were about 3,700 uniformed sworn officers, the majority from other jurisdictions.
If commands didn't work, a chemical irritant was considered the best first crowd-control tactic because it didn't involve physical contact and was "less injurious," Harrington said. Tear gas, flash bangs and smoke grenades were used as situations escalated, he said.
The general tactic was to direct and deny, meaning officers would tell marchers where to go and block troublemakers from getting to places where they could cause damage.
