Butler County commissioners looking cautiously at rally security
Butler County is still sifting through numerous right-to-know requests for information on the July 13 rally for former President Donald Trump, during which one person was killed and three were injured, including Trump.
While officials believe security will be heightened at the rally for Trump planned for Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Butler Farm Show grounds, they still have to prepare for an influx of visitors and traffic in the area.
Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel said he asked the county’s emergency services director, Steve Bicehouse, to compile information Saturday on who is staffing the rally, how long they work and what their assignment is. Before the July 13 rally, Boozel implored Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe to procure a contract with federal agencies leading the planning of the rally, so staffing details would be easily accessible.
The other two Butler County commissioners, Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer, were not in favor of procuring a contract last time, and the county ultimately did not have information outlined and signed in writing. But Boozel said tracking staff hours would be the next best thing for the coming rally. Boozel said gathering data would help if people request information after the fact.
“During an event such as a hurricane, you make an after action report,” Boozel said. “An after action report would give the public what they are seeking; what was the cost and who paid for it. My issue is people are asking what was being utilized.”
The shooting at the July 13 rally kicked off a string of investigations and inquiries relating to rally security and the planning that went into it. Local officers have been questioned about the rally, and officials have been called to investigative hearings focused on pinpointing issues in security at the rally.
Many questions got funneled to Butler County, which had no role in planning the rally itself, but the sheriff and 911 center were involved in preparing local staff for the event.
Geyer said an agency like the Secret Service would probably not opt in to a contract with local law enforcement, but support from a municipal agency would fall under mutual aid anyway. She added that any event requiring additional security has the potential to cost more to taxpayers, so added security expenses are not limited to campaign events.
“The Secret Service is not going to sign a contract, not outline details related to security because they're not going to divulge what their plans are pertaining security,” Geyer said. “The taxpayers do pay for it, because this occurs all throughout the commonwealth regardless of whether it’s a campaign event or not.”
Osche also said federal agents coming to a municipality means local agencies would have to prepare one way or another, because they introduce more variables to an agency’s usual duties. The number of people who came to Butler County on July 13 demonstrates the need for intercounty planning, Osche said.
“We don’t get to pick and choose events, who we protect,” she said. “We have to make sure we don’t suffer that same tragedy again.”
Despite being at odds over the planning for the rally, each commissioner emphasized the safety of the event is a nonpartisan issue. Boozel said procuring a contract would help county officials answer records requests more efficiently, because all the information would be in one place.
“If we have a comprehensive understanding of a single format we could hand over after the event, we could say ‘Here’s what we did, here's how we did it and here is how much it cost,’” Boozel said.
Osche said lessons learned at the last rally will alter security plans for the upcoming event.
“I have a lot more confidence that there will be heightened security at this event,” Osche said. “Sounds to me that there were more agents, there is private security coming.
“It will without a doubt not look the same as the last rally.”
