California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2017_Winter Magazine Final | Page 35

In total, three hundred officers and several horses held
the protest line for many hours until the sun set and it
became time to call an unlawful assembly and clear the
beaches, boardwalk, sidewalks and streets.
When the evening ended, we were pleased that no
property was damaged and there were only a few protestor
related injuries. Altogether, four people were arrested.
PRE AND POST PLANNING:
Here is a list of things we did to get ready for the
planned protest, followed by a list of our lessons learned and
things we would do differently.
•
Extensive research into the America First and their
protest organizer.
• Monitored counter-protest groups and learned about
their tactics (Antifa, Democratic Socialists).
• Reached out to both sides and had meetings with
their “leadership” prior to the event. We went
through our laws and explained what we would,
and would not, tolerate.
• Contacted all Orange County law enforcement agen-
cies and initiated a mutual aid request.
• Had bomb dogs sweep the area. We located several
hidden weapons prior to the event.
• Held mobile field force training the morning of the
protest.
• Briefed, educated and fed everyone.
• Used horses as a tool to separate the groups.
• Made sure the squad leaders were aware that WE
directed time, place and manner. While the protest
was legal, the Police Department dictated where the
groups would express their First Amendment Rights.
• Several other law enforcement representatives want-
ed to come and watch because of upcoming protests
in their area. We made sure that all officers came in
full uniform regardless of rank. (We felt these people
would be put to work if needed.)
About six hours into the protest, we had 3,000 people
on our beach. Some had swastikas tattooed on their fore-
heads and some were tourists walking through the area
with their kids.
The scene became tense when the sun set and it be-
came dark. The news media began doing their evening live
shots and the crowd was jockeying for position. They began
pushing on the officers and horses. This caused us to call an
unlawful assembly and we cleared the beaches while also
doing our best to keep the groups apart.
LEARNING LESSONS:
•
•
Our resources were immediately drained. We
deployed for the 6pm protest three hours early and
were already outnumbered. We should have had
people on scene much earlier.
Too many hovering news helicopters made it hard
for the two police helicopters to do their work. We
should have cleared the airspace earlier.
• The groups got too close. While we deployed K-Rail
in advance to help keep them off the streets, we
should have also used it between the two groups.
• Most of the Laguna Officers were already tired from
a protest the day before where several hundred resi-
dents rallied against the white supremacists groups.
• We opened our Department Operations Center
which also has the ability to monitor all of our fixed
cameras around the community. (We also deployed
other cameras to focus on the event.) In hindsight,
the event was large enough that we should have
moved to the Emergency Operations Center.
• Too many weapons appeared on the beach that day
(chains, flags attached to steel poles, etc.). Shortly
afterwards, we went to the City Council and passed
an emergency ordinance making it illegal to bring
anything which could reasonably be construed as a
weapon to a rally or protest.
These alt-left and alt-right protests are becoming the new
norm in America. While we hope you don’t have to plan
for something like this, know that you cannot successful-
ly get the job done without having good intelligence and
partnerships with the neighboring law enforcement agen-
cies in your area.  ■
WINTER 2017 | California Police Chief
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