Local law enforcement kept the peace during rally
Tuesday, December 25, 2007 5:13 AM PST
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E-mail this articleAfter reading Sunday's report on all that was involved in keeping the peace during the white supremacist recruitment effort in Longview earlier this month, we have to tip our hat to local law enforcement agencies. Longview police, assisted by the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office and Kelso police, organized and carried out a security plan that was as unobtrusive as it was effective. Authorities imposed a quiet presence throughout the day, allowing the various activities to unfold without incident.
Preparing for those activities -- a march and afternoon picnic to celebrate the community's diversity, and the evening recruitment meeting of the so-called Church of Jesus Christ-Christian -- had to be a challenge. Clearly, the day held great potential for confrontation between the neo-Nazis and their sympathizers and members of the community who planned to turn out in support of diversity. Indeed, many citizens had made emotional appeals to reject the group's request to rent the city's McClelland Arts Center for the Dec. 9 meeting, and the white supremacist movement is no stranger to violence.
There were significant unknowns. Longview Police Chief Alex Perez, who planned the policing effort, told Daily News city editor Andre Stepankowsky that the biggest challenge was trying to determine how many people would show up for the day's events. As it turned out, more people turned out for the march in support of diversity than most thought would be the case.
An estimated 500 community members participated. It was the city's biggest demonstration in memory. By comparison, the neo-Nazi group's meeting was attended by roughly 50 people. Nearly half of that number were attending not because they sympathized with the group's racist message, but out of curiosity. The day brought, as Perez said, "a great outpouring" of community support for diversity. Sheriff Bill Mahoney accurately summed up the day for the supremacist church as a flop.
Credit Perez, Mahoney and Kelso Police Chief Wayne Nelson for the secure climate in which members of this community could safely demonstrate their values and a handful of racists could voice their widely rejected views without incident. Providing that security required about $14,000 in overtime charges for local law enforcement agencies. It was a bargain, by every measure.
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