PBA: Cops not trained or equipped for protests

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Buffalo police need equipment and training to adequately deal with crowds of protestors, John Evans, president of the Police Benevolent Association, has told Investigative Post.

Evans is one of several officers who have contacted Ali Ingersoll in recent days to complain about the department’s lack of preparedness. Evans noted grievances and correspondence dating to 2014 in which the union has raised the issue with the department’s leadership.

Speaking of this week’s protests against police violence, Evans said: “You want to end the thing without killing anyone or hurting them badly … I would like to see some of the other tactics or mechanisms out there that would be effective.”

Evans added that only about 65 of the department’s 700 officers have received training in crowd control that would have helped de-escalate tense situations like those that have played out since Saturday.

Want to read more? Jim Heaney writes about the racism that is driving the protests.

Investigative Post staff