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How Seattle’s May Day protests are helping Cleveland bike cops at GOP convention

Protesters clash with police in Cleveland Tuesday at the Republican National Convention. About 300 Cleveland officers were deployed to manage crowds on bikes — a tactic Seattle police helped them implement. (John Minchillo / The Associated Press)

About 300 Cleveland police officers are being deployed on bicycles for crowd management during the Republican National Convention, using tactics learned from the Seattle Police Department.

By Sarah Jarvis, Seattle Times, July 21, 2016

About 300 Cleveland bicycle officers are helping control the sometimes-raucous crowds outside the Republican National Convention using tactics learned from the Seattle Police Department.

In Cleveland, officers on bicycles are racing ahead of marchers and using their bikes to form makeshift barricades to separate opposing groups — lessons learned firsthand during Seattle’s recent May Day demonstrations.

Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said Cleveland officers visited Seattle to observe how bicycles were used in crowd control on May Day, which ended with nine arrests and five injured officers after a peaceful march devolved into a violent demonstration.

Since 2012, Seattle Police Department has increased its use of bikes for crowd control. In Cleveland, officers are controlling crowds at the Republican National Convention using tactics learned from SPD.

Whitcomb, who worked bike patrol for two years, said Seattle police each year encounter scores of demonstrations, most of which are lawful and peaceful. But he said the challenge of crowd management comes from the possibility that demonstrations shift and become violent.

“You show up in one set of gear, and in an instant, you put on protective pads,” Whitcomb said.

He said bikes allow officers to move quickly and be more visible, fostering better community interaction. Bike officers sometimes keep their distance from crowds, while other times they act as escorts or shields that keep demonstrators from other members of the public or property, he said.

Seattle police provided tactical training for Cleveland officers, including the use of equipment and formations that are best for various situations, as well as the philosophies and principles of crowd management, he said.

Some of those lessons were put to use Wednesday in Cleveland as skirmishes broke out over a flag-burning protest in the streets outside the convention site, Quicken Loans Arena. Officers used their bicycles and their bodies to separate those with opposing views. Seventeen people were arrested.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said he spent three hours Tuesday evening riding with bicycle officers on patrol.

The early reviews of bicycle cops in Cleveland appear to be mostly positive.

“Every officer seems to know how they are supposed to work and bicycles are way better than weapons or even billy clubs,” Christine Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Ohio, told the Los Angeles Times.

The news website Deadspin, known for its humorous take on things, criticized some Cleveland cops for apparently not knowing how to properly adjust seat height for maximum speed, or when to shift gears.

“Being in too easy a gear means you can accelerate quickly, but achieve a meager top speed while huffing and puffing and churning your legs only to advance at the pace of a geriatric pug,” Deadspin noted.

Seattle police have deployed bicycle officers since 1987, but stepped up their use in crowd control during the 2013 May Day demonstrations.

After being heavily criticized for being ill-prepared when widespread vandalism erupted during the 2012 May Day, Seattle police followed recommendations from an outside consultant by deploying waves of bike officers and using their bikes to protect officers who were making arrests amid rock-and-bottle throwing from a surging crowd.

Whitcomb credits Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole’s experience running the Boston Police Department during the 2004 Democratic National Convention with helping the department modernize its tactics.

“This most recent May Day really illustrated the professionalism of the men and women who are working the lines,” he said. “It’s being able to have a staff that’s dynamic enough and confident enough to address rapidly changing events.”

In addition to the Cleveland police observing tactics implemented here, Seattle Sgt. Jim Dyment traveled to Cleveland in April as a consultant, and is at the Republican National Convention this week.

 “We are absolutely honored to have been able to share what we’ve learned … with another agency,” Whitcomb said.

Information from Seattle Times archives and The Associated Press is included in this story.

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