Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/AP) - Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids continue to flare up around the country, as officials in cities from coast-to-coast get ready for major demonstrations against President Donald Trump over the weekend.
While many demonstrations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs, others have led to clashes with police who have sometimes used chemical irritants to disperse crowds. Hundreds have been arrested.
Activists are also planning “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump's planned military parade in Washington, D.C. While those were already scheduled, they will happen amid the rising tensions of the week.
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While the people have a right to protest, under the given rights allotted by the U.S. Constitution, law enforcement experts say some protests can quickly turn sour when some take their actions a bit too far.
"Where these protests cross the line is when, No. 1, there's acts of violence, whether it's with opposition protesters, the general public or law enforcement officers, or you start to see property damage, where people are throwing bricks through windows, setting cars on fire, things of that nature," said Jeff Rinaldo, former Buffalo Police captain and current vice president of the Tarian Group. "I think if there's lessons learned from the protests and the riots of 2020, there's not a great appetite to allow these things to spiral out of control. So from a law enforcement standpoint, you have to respect the rights of people to gather, but from a protester standpoint, you also have to respect the rule of law that you can't go and start committing crimes in the name of protest."
Former Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia says while having the ability to have the people's voices heard is sometimes very beneficial, law enforcement officers do have to walk that line and know when some protestors have gone too far.
"You have to protect the rest of the public, particularly the business owners, who typically are the ones that are affected when it comes to damage, destruction and any other physical harm," said Gramaglia in an interview with WBEN. "It's a lot of planning, a lot of intelligence gathering, knowing when to have a presence more visible or less visible, so as to not instigate any issues, but fully prepared to move in quickly in the event that something does start to turn destructive."
Rinaldo says it's often a case-by-case instance when law enforcement officials step in to try and suppress any actions that escalate and cross a particular line.
"The minute that protest, or certain individuals within the protest start throwing objects, start attempting to assault people, and/or start directing their actions towards businesses and creating damage, property damage, things of that nature, that's when law enforcement is forced to have to step in and take decisive action to end those activities," Rinaldo said with WBEN. "These protests, through the years, have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. People have been severely injured, they've been killed. We've seen law enforcement officers severely injured. And you just can't allow these things to spiral out of control. Unfortunately, the police don't really get to control how these things go. They hope for cooperation from event organizers, they hope these events truly are going to be peaceful, but they do have to be prepared for if these things do turn, how to quickly respond to them and end that activity."
Gramaglia says not only is it important to see more of a visible presence with law enforcement, but it's helpful to have technology come into play to help officials dictate whether they need to take any particular action.
"A lot of cameras around the city, so being able to monitor what's happening and start to see what some of those agitators are trying to incite. And if it gets to the point where you're starting to see evidence that the crowd is going to turn, then that's where you have to move in and try to prevent something from happening, or put it down very quickly," he said.
He adds it's also having the right resources in place for law enforcement, and part of it is the collaboration with other local agencies.
"Collaboration with the county, the state police, even the local towns and villages. There's something called Mutual Aid, where if Buffalo is, obviously, the largest department in the region, second largest city in the state, but we've had to call in other resources at times, and the towns and the villages have always been ready to jump in, if they need it," Gramaglia said.
Some volatile protests have prompted city officials to enforce curfews in places nationally Los Angeles and Spokane. Republican governors in states like Texas and Missouri have mobilized National Guard troops to be ready to help law enforcement manages demonstrations in those states.
While a curfew can serve a purpose as a good tool for law enforcement to help suppress escalating tensions, Rinaldo acknowledges they are difficult in nature, because law enforcement has to somehow ensure people are even aware of it.
"If somebody is going to work, if they've got a legitimate purpose to be out past the curfew, you have to respect that. But generally, the curfews are so that police can give a lawful order to disperse, and if people don't, they can put an end to it by taking them into custody and charging them with violating the curfew," he explained. "They're not ideal, but when you have these mass demonstrations that are going on for prolonged periods of time and you have to be able to ensure that you have enough resources to adequately deal with them, curfews do become useful tools in helping to control the amount of activity happening in a community beyond a certain point in time so that law enforcement and government officials can plan resources accordingly."
Gramaglia adds that law enforcement officials don't want to be overusing curfews.
"There really has to be a need for it, and a realistic ability to enforce it as well," Gramaglia said. "Ideally, when there is a curfew and you do have to move in, when the sun goes down, then you can start moving in at that point. And there's, again, other technologies, whether it'd be bull horns, long-range acoustical devices that you can make those announcements, telling people it's time to go. Typically, there's a large number, percentage of people that will listen to that and will leave. It's the very small percentage of agitators. And if you have to make arrests, then you make arrests. Typically, a lot of people don't want to be arrested. There are some that want to be arrested, and if you make those arrests, the other ones will go. So again, it just comes down to the proper planning ahead of time and coordination."