WASHINGTON 鈥� Even before the violence at last weekend鈥檚 white-nationalist protest claimed the life of a woman Saturday afternoon, there were complaints about how the Charlottesville, Virginia, police had handled the area in and around the rally.
Critics said police appeared ill-prepared; some observers, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe, said the police were outgunned by the white nationalists, Virginia being an open-carry state.
Tim Longo, the former chief of the Charlottesville Police Department, told 草莓传媒 Monday that questions about how the police handled the rally are 鈥渓egitimate.鈥�
He called it 鈥渁 long day for law enforcement. And it didn鈥檛 go well.鈥�
Two Virginia State Police officers also were killed in a helicopter crash.
Longo, who is now on the faculty of the University of Virginia鈥檚 School of Continuing and Professional Studies and creating a master鈥檚 degree in public safety administration, said it would be 鈥渦nfair for me to be critical of the police,鈥� as he wasn鈥檛 part of the planning process.
鈥淗aving said that, I think the question being raised by the general public is a legitimate one.鈥�
Longo noted that the Charlottesville police had advance warning that large groups with 鈥渄ivergent views鈥� were coming to the town.
鈥淚 think the potential for violence was real and beyond speculative. I think when [the white nationalists] presented themselves Saturday morning with shields, with helmets, with weaponry, I think it was foreseeable that there would be violence.鈥�
He said he believed the community had an expectation of a 鈥渕ore forceful and more immediate鈥� reaction from the police. 鈥淎gain, whether or not that was part of the planning process, it would be speculative of me to say. But I do think the question is a legitimate one.鈥�
The presence of so many guns makes any such situation difficult to handle, Longo added.
That鈥檚 why, he said, it鈥檚 more important than ever for police departments to plan ahead for such potential problems, 鈥渢o ensure that when lawlessness erupts 鈥� and it did, and it did quickly 鈥� that there is a response that鈥檚 immediate, that can knock down or at least mitigate the level of damage that will be caused by this violence.鈥�
And the open carry laws just make it more complicated, he said.
鈥淲e know we鈥檙e balancing First Amendment rights; now we鈥檙e balancing Second Amendment rights. And where does that stop? It stops when public safety becomes at risk, and it stops when those weapons are presenting threats of imminent lawlessness or violence. And so that is a very careful balance, which requires planning and a very careful legal analysis. 鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e managing the right for people to come and share and communicate thoughts and ideas, as hateful as they might be, against the city鈥檚 need, and frankly, duty, to protect its citizens. I think that balance, sometimes, can be very, very challenging.鈥�
He acknowledged that the Charlottesville police force is 鈥渁 finite resource,鈥� which just made it more important to anticipate problems.
鈥淢y fear is that we will see this again.鈥�
