Dallas police will be out in force Saturday night during a rally against white supremacy and hatred.
“We will have the largest contingent of officers on any planned or unplanned event in the city of Dallas," said Assistant Dallas Police Chief Paul Stokes, who is serving as the incident commander for the event.
Several thousand people are expected at City Hall Plaza for the rally Saturday evening, at 7:30 p.m.
“People coming to this planned demonstration will see law enforcement officers,” said Stokes. “We will not be in the demonstration, but we will be on the outer perimeter and folks will know we are there. They will be able to see police officers, law enforcement officers and we will be present."
Stokes said the police presence will be similar to June of last year when hundreds of police officers were in position when then-candidate Donald Trump visiting Dallas during the presidential campaign.
“I fully expect this will be a very safe event in this city,” said Stokes.
Several streets around Dallas City Hall will be closed, and although no counter-protests are expected, Dallas police will have backup from Garland, Grand Prairie, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
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“They offered and we took them up on their offer because it does help us, having that manpower resources right here on site," said Stokes.
