GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Police Department is taking precautions should violent demonstrators that have plagued areas of Indianapolis spill over to surrounding counties.
Late Monday afternoon, GPD posted on its website that it was aware of social media posts that threatened destructive behavior.
One of the precautions was to remove things on city sidewalks that could be destroyed or thrown through windows. For example, city officials called for the removal of all the Bikes in Bloom art pieces as soon as possible. A total of 26 bicycles are on display downtown.
Chief Jeff Rasche noted the city was acting out of an abundance of caution.
“You can learn from other people’s mistakes,” Rasche said of demonstrations have have turned violent. “We don’t know that it is going to happen here, but there are some weird things being said on social media that we can’t confirm.”
Protesters are being prohibited from gathering in Indianapolis, and state officials have warned the authorities in surrounding counties to be on guard, noting demonstrations could happen elsewhere.
“We just want to have a plan,” Rasche said. “We don’t want to be caught on our heels.”
GPD is coordinating the safety measures with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and other county law enforcement agencies.
The sheriff’s department’s public information officer, Capt. Robert Harris, said the department would have double the number of deputies on patrol Monday night.
“While nothing has been substantiated, there have been threats made toward the GPD and the new jail site, so we’ll have officers on alert all night.”
Secretary of State Connie Lawson has also warned law enforcement to be on the lookout for any issues that might arise to disrupt Election Day on Tuesday, June 2, Rasche said.
“They’re asking for our cooperation there to try and make sure the election goes off without a hitch,” Rasche said.
Protests — many of them violent — have erupted around the country in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25. A police officer has been arrested in connection with the incident, and the death of Floyd, a black man, has reignited smoldering tensions around the treatment of African-Americans by the police and the criminal justice system.
Mulitple cities — including Indianapolis — have declared curfews after some of the protests turned violent. The demonstrations there have mostly taken place downtown, but even suburban areas have been targeted or threatened. Area shopping malls, for example, were shuttered for a time during the weekend.
