The new Cleveland pride festival should be a safe event according to the head of the city’s police union. The organizer of the original “Cleveland Pride Festival” cancelled that event last week over unknown safety concerns. But members of the LGBT community and the city quickly put together a replacement event called “Pride in the C-L-E.” WKSU’s Kevin Niedermier reports on what’s being done to keep it safe.
When the new event is held on Public Square Aug. 13th, Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association President Steve Loomis says plenty of officers will be deployed for security, including the new bicycle patrols. He says the force is also equipped with what was learned from keeping the Republican National Convention and the Cavs victory celebration safe. And he adds the city has an extensive intelligence-gathering system in place.
“We have a lot of resources; we network with federal agencies; we network with other state and local agencies to gather intelligence from social media and other areas. So, it’s highly unlikely something will be well-thought-out or well-planned in advance without us knowing about it.”
The “Pride in the C-L-E” event will start with a march over the Detroit-Superior Bridge to Public Square. It marks the 28th consecutive year the festival will be held in the city.
