Members Of Tulsa Police Head To Milwaukee To Help With RNC Security

Members of the Tulsa Police Special Response team are headed to Milwaukee to help with security during the Republican National Convention next week.

A group of officers specially trained for crowd control and disaster response will caravan up to Milwaukee as tens of thousands of people will make their way to the RNC starting Monday.

As the barricades go up and preparations are underway for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump will accept the Republican nomination for president, public safety is a top concern.

Protestors are coming to town, too.

“They need people who specialize in handling massive amounts of people, and we have a proven record of doing well with that,” said Capt. Richard Meulenberg with TPD.

The Milwaukee Police Department is asking departments across the country for additional boots on the ground.

Tulsa Police answered the call. 25 members of the Special Response Team and Incident Management Team will spend the week in Milwaukee supporting the security efforts.

“So Milwaukee themselves and their state agencies, and whomever they're working with for the RNC, they're going to coordinate this entire effort, and we're just another asset that they can plug in someplace,” said Meulenberg.

The department says the operation is all about safety—not politics.

“No, absolutely not, because we have yet to be called by anybody hosting the DNC, but we would treat it the same way,” Meulenberg said.

Tulsa police will be reimbursed for sending the officers to Milwaukee, so this is not a cost to Tulsa taxpayers.

Milwaukee plans to have thousands of police officers on hand next week.