Cleveland relies on outside forces to help with RNC patrol

The City of Cleveland has become home to a plethora of police forces from throughout the country for the Republican National Convention and so far there has been positive interaction with each team.

Police forces from California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, South Carolina and Tennessee have all offered their services to watch over activities happening outside of Quicken Loans Arena.

Most forces have been in large groups and on the second day of the RNC have heard, “Thank you for what you do,” “You’re doing a good job,” and a vast amount of other compliments from people as they pass by. Some have even requested to take photos with the officers and stopped to have brief conversations.

“Everything’s been very positive,” one Indiana state trooper said. “It gets to show people that we’re people too and we get to be on a more friendly basis with everyone. Typically when we deal with people it’s in a traffic stop or when we’re called there and it’s not usually the best of circumstances so this has definitely helped out a lot.”

Police have reported five arrests to this point including the arrest of Kathy Wray Coleman during a protest on Monday. Three people were arrested Tuesday morning for climbing a flagpole and hanging a banner.