Security in spotlight as Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee
Jul 15, 2024, 6:26 PM
SALT LAKE CITY — A former police chief said Monday the level and amount of security at the Republican National Convention would likely receive new discussion following the assassination attempt that wounded former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
“What they did over the last two days is, ‘do we need to bring in more people,’” said Chris Burbank during an interview with KSL TV.
Burbank, who guided Salt Lake City Police Department from 2006 to 2015, told KSL TV security workups and planning for an event like the RNC begin years in advance, as he witnessed himself as a sergeant during the 2002 Olympic Games.
“I was assigned to the Secret Service, actually moved in their office here, and did nothing but Olympic security for two years,” Burbank said.
He reminded that 9/11 brought vastly heightened security to the Games — even leading to 1,000 National Guard troops being assigned under Burbank as police watched over Olympic Square.
Planning security for such events will often take place in extreme detail, as it also does in smaller scale for campaign events like the one in Pennsylvania Saturday.
“Are you defending against a rifle, a scope rifle — it gets so specific,” Burbank said. “We’re looking at, you know, tracks in the dirt to see if somebody was here in the past that may be here in the future.”
Chris Burbank, who guided Salt Lake City Police Department from 2006 to 2015, told KSL TV security workups and planning for an event like the RNC begin years in advance. (KSL TV)
Only so much can be done
Burbank acknowledged only so much can be done with added manpower and security assets.
“You prepare for everything as best you can and understand that what you’re doing is minimizing the risk to the event, not eliminating,” he said. “It’s so difficult to predict human behavior and human behavior in this climate.”
Burbank said ultimately a more comprehensive solution is required to address events like the assassination attempt on former President Trump as well as mass shootings that continue to occur at a concerning rate— including everyone taking a step back from the political vitriol.
“What are we going to do to address that so that we don’t create the need for every location you go into to be like walking into an airport,” Burbank said. “The more common-sense people that stand up and say, ‘that is the wrong thing to do’ or ‘I’m not going to follow the crowd’— well, the better off we are.”
