Election 2024: Several Central Texas law enforcement agencies preparing for Election Day
CENTRAL TEXAS - Several Central Texas law enforcement agencies are planning to beef-up staffing on Tuesday for Election Day. A retired police officer said they need to be prepared just in case.
"Law enforcement will be prepared for this Election Day," retired police Lieutenant Randy Sutton said.
Sutton said in case history repeats itself.
As Americans waited for the presidential election results in 2020, protests popped up across the country. Four years later, "we've heard a lot of rhetoric from different sides saying that if their candidate is not elected, they're not going to accept it and that could lead to protests, that could lead to riots," Sutton said.
Law enforcement agencies in Central Texas are preparing in case.
"They have to have the personnel, they have to have the plans, they have to have contingency plans," Sutton said.
The Pflugerville Police Department said they are actively monitoring social media.
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"Social media has become a focal point for the creation of protests, flash mobs, that kind of thing and so police agencies now routinely have to look at social media to determine if there are any threats that are coming through that avenue," Sutton said.
Austin police, West Lake Hills police, Pflugerville police, and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said they are working with other agencies, including the Austin Regional Intelligence Center.
"There are tons of informants that are keeping their fingers on the pulse of radical groups and fringe groups that might be making plans to create some havoc," Sutton said.
Last week, a law enforcement official said incendiary devices found at the scene of ballot drop box fires in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, were marked with the message ‘Free Gaza.’
An assault was reported at a polling location in San Antonio. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said poll workers asked a man to take off his red MAGA hat inside. The man then punched an election clerk.
"We have to be realistic here that there could be violence at these polling places," Sutton said.
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Kyle police said they added all voting poll locations to their patrol routes to proactively monitor them. Austin police, Georgetown police, and Cedar Park police said they’ll have increased patrol officers available on election day.
"There will be beefed up security," Sutton said. "There will be citizens who are at the polling places that have orders to contact law enforcement, should they see anything that they feel, or they deem to be suspicious, or people acting up in ways that could cause issues."
When it is time to count the votes, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office said they’ll have extra officers on duty at the Election Office.
"Should we be frightened about the outcome of the election in some type of threats or violence as a result of the election? The unfortunate reality is that we're living in some very, very strange times. We're living in a time that we're a nation divided," Sutton said.
Sutton said prepare, but don’t be paranoid.