Pennsylvania State Police will lead a coordinated effort to ensure safety during July's National Governor's Association annual meeting in State College.
With the eyes of the nation turned to State College to watch high-ranking political dignitaries such as President Clinton, Gen. Colin Powell and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, police are carefully preparing to handle the crowds expected to flood town July 8 to 11.
The state police are not releasing any figures about how many officers will be in town for the weekend, Capt. Frank Monaco said.
Police will request a helicopter for the event, as they would for any other busy weekend. The helicopter would be on hand for use in case of injuries or other emergencies, he said.
Steve Shelow, assistant director for Penn State Police Services, said Penn State police will be working together with both the State College Police Department and state police to provide security for the weekend event.
State police will have primary responsibility for coordinating the efforts of officers of the different police organizations.
Lt. Tom Hart of the State College Police Department said the police presence for that weekend will be similar to other big events in State College, such as football weekends in the fall or the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts each July.
Monaco said state police conduct training twice a year for handling large crowds.
"We're at the forefront of crowd control," Monaco said.
"Crowd control and handling governors and other dignitaries is a lot different than responding to domestic violence calls," he added.
To get advice about how to handle crowds and how to deal with problems they might encounter, state police talked to officials in cities such as Seattle and Washington, D.C., Monaco said.
Although they've learned from mishaps in other states and from the Beaver Avenue riot two years ago during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, Monaco said there has not been any major philosophical change in the way police will handle the expected crowds.
"Most of crowd control is responding with a lot of people right away.
"They must be appropriately trained. It's important to be fair with everyone and take the appropriate steps when problems arise," Monaco said.
The extra police would not be necessary in a city with a large police department but in a smaller town such as State College, the extra police officers are vital to help manage the event, he added.
Monaco said although state police will be in charge of organizing the efforts, they would not try to usurp the authority of the local police organizations.
