It was May 25^th, 2020, it started as a normal day. Many were unaware that it would be a day that ends up in the annals of law enforcement history.

The weather in Minneapolis, MN was seasonally normal when the call came in to respond to a criminal event. Minneapolis police were dispatched to a crime scene where they located and apprehended George Floyd, a black man. Sadly, this scene quickly changed to a racial incident from the police responding to the scene using excessive force. Mr. Floyd died in police custody and the event was captured on video.

This was a day that advanced a movement.

The video was instantly uploaded to national TV broadcasting and went on all the major social media outlets showing another black man dying in police custody.  While the initial protests focused on this incident occurred in just about all major cities of the country, many significant protests also became organized in the small suburban communities and towns with populations of 25,000 to 75,000 plus. 

The protests started that evening nationwide; by day 7, the number and size of those organized quickly grew to a point beyond the major cities.

In a few short hours, it became clear that law enforcement was going to have to implement its emergency readiness programs to address the issues of the protest and potential riots that could develop.  Sophisticated two-way radio communications were going to be required to successfully respond to the protests or riots. Each responder was going to have to be linked into their respective network and probably work in an outrageous noise riddled environment.

This day is unique because it occurred during the COVID-19 Pandemic which further complicates the law enforcement response.  One of the biggest inherent risks of the response is advancing this highly contagious and deathly virus.  Not managed, the protests could cause a second wave to peak again in those states and communities.

Aggressive containment measures including economic business closures have recently been successfully deployed at great expenses; especially, loss of revenues to local governments.  Therefore, it is expected that those responding to the protests will create and follow COVID-19 precautions.

Unfortunately, organized criminal gang elements developed and implemented plans to capitalize on the protests. Their members blended into the peaceful crowds to access and engage the law enforcement response. 

These criminal gangs promoted aggressive activities such as throwing water bottles and rocks, confrontations with police lines, and vandalizing property and vehicles to create distractions for their desired activities—a shock and awe strategy.  In some cases, it was observed that they would spread out to take advantage of the limits of the resources of law enforcement. 

For the first responders to be effective to combat these issues, they must be able to quickly deploy their respective command centers and implement their readiness programs. Command centers will vary depending on the size of the community.

The key to deploying the appropriate amount of resources for successful combat is dependent upon effective – real-time communication which is compatible with multiple agencies and departments as well as local (municipalities and townships), state, and federal governments agencies and departments; including FBI, ATF, Border Patrol, and Homeland Security, etc.

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION WITH THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT

The members of these various units employed must have the communications equipment to report through their respective chain of command. Then the appropriate leadership can communicate with the heads of the other units to provide a coordinated approach.

These various law enforcements and support units require uninterrupted and reliable communication equipment such as Motorola APX6000, Harris XL-200, etc.

In this regard, two-way radio communications are the most effective equipment used to coordinate large scale operations designed to rapidly deploy resources to combat criminal activities.

• Such equipment needs to be state-of-the-art status which could include Motorola apx 6000 accessories with Motorola headsets 
• With local police departments normally tasked with the mission-critical leadership role, Police Earpiece
• And Radio Microphones are critical complements for effective communications.

In the era of highly effective social media communications, unlike protests of the past, local law enforcement may quickly find itself required to interact on a real-time basis with state police, fire departments, national guard units, federal FBI, ATF, and border patrol units.

There is an urgency for law enforcement to develop and deploy strategic large scale operations to manage sophisticated protests. They must be prepared to navigate protests which may involve any organized or unorganized opportunistic person(s) who convert legal protest into looting and other criminal activities of the hour.

Waveband Communications has a decade of proven experience in providing all the critical equipment components for effective communications required to successfully respond overnight to huge riots.

Author Bio:

NICK J. HOHMAN

PRESIDENT

Nick has 15 years of experience working within the critical communications industry and has a proven track record of success providing solutions to public safety communications professionals. Nick is an avid writer who has been frequently published on numerous industry-specific websites.  Below is a sample of Nick's writing portfolio: 

Improving Communications within law enforcement  What FirstNet means for the future of land mobile radios How hurricanes can cause havoc on law enforcement communications 
Nick regularly attends critical communication-centric conferences including the International Wireless Conference, APCO Conference, and International Police Chiefs Conference. 

Mr. Hohman has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore.  During his free time, Nick enjoys playing cards, traveling, and spending time with his family.