Apr 9, 2006 11:41 pm US/Central
DPD Keeps 'Hi-Tech' Eye On Immigration Marchers
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
More than 700 Dallas police officers and Dallas County Sheriff's deputies patrolled Sunday's mega immigration march and all of their communication came through a hi-tech command center.
From nearly every view their presence was seen. Law enforcement was present on the ground and in the air.
But was inside the Dallas Police Department's hi-tech command center, where information was exchanged.
Inside the headquarters were interactive maps, live feeds from city hall and more, all allowing police to monitor the crowd from nearly every angle.
Dallas Police say maps and photographs were loaded onto a 'smartboard' that was pre-staged for the event.
Dallas Fire Rescue crews were also on guard with a medical triage standing by in case of an emergency.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said securing the scene of the immigration reform march was a joint effort.
"We had about 550 off-duty Dallas officers, another 200 sheriff's deputies working."
During the rally, a group of demonstrators and counter protesters exchanged words, but police had the situation under control in a matter of minutes.
Chief Kunkle says most of the participants policed themselves.
"I don't know of any other event where this number of people with so few incidents occurred. It really is a credit to the people that were here to demonstrate, as well as the organizers."
So far police have reported only one arrest and that was for public intoxication.
(CBS 11 News)
