Ready at a moment's notice: Law enforcement agencies outside of Milwaukee ready to pitch in
MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee is not in this alone. Law enforcement officers from all over southeast Wisconsin came out to assist the Milwaukee Police Department Sunday night. On Monday night, they were on standby -- ready to be active in a moment's notice and help quell any unrest.
The Kenosha County Sheriff's Department is just one agency that traveled to Milwaukee to help police tackle the riots, looting and violence over the weekend.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth
"For us to be able to help Milwaukee and be able to do anything we can, I know they would come down here if we had this situation occurring down here," said Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth.
"They saw these people breaking cinder blocks in the road, throwing them in cars, throwing them at police cars, throwing them at the officers, throwing them at our Bearcat, lighting things on fire," Beth said.
Sheriff Beth extended the call for help again Monday morning through the emergency police services in Wisconsin.
"Shortly after noon, I had about 50 officers already committed from other agencies," Beth said.
Soon after through, Milwaukee police told them to stand down, citing they had enough resources for the night.
The sheriff says Kenosha's armored car plus three deputies to operate it was still requested. Everyone else is on standby.
Meanwhile, other local agencies are dealing with threats circling social media, suggesting the riots head to the suburbs including Cudahy, South Milwaukee, West Allis and Franklin.
Cudahy and Franklin are among the department that say they are aware of the threats -- and are investigating them.
West Allis police issued the following statement:
"The WAPD has contingencies to respond to events that may occur in the City and assist other law enforcement agencies as requested."
The Emergency Police Services (EPS) has been used before.
Several years ago it was activated for the protests in Madison. But officials say that was not violent like these past few days.
So many of this weekend's incidents were a first for many of the Kenosha County deputies that helped out. Of course, they are all thoroughly trained to handle these situations.
