Don’t see any police at the polls in Arlington? “That’s by design” to prevent voter intimidation, PD says

Arlington police will not be at the polls on Tuesday, despite concerns across the country that this Election Day could lead to unrest.

That’s because they fear their presence could be seen or act as a form of voter intimidation, Sgt. Alex Rosado told KERA News. There will be officers nearby in case they are needed, but they will not be stationed at the actual polling places.

“We don’t want to do that. We want everyone to be able to go to the polling station freely, to feel comfortable, to feel safe, so we will certainly monitor, but you may not see us and that is the intention,” Rosado said.

Arlington agents are going to be a little picky when it comes to calls to polling stations what they respond to, Rosado said. They will answer calls related to violence and voter intimidation, but may not answer calls about issues such as public nuisance.

“We have historically not had serious problems at polling places during elections, but we have informed our officials that this could be a possibility,” Rosado told KERA News.

Dispatchers and agents know where the polling places are and are ready to respond quickly, Rosado said.

If offices respond, he said they will immediately notify a supervisor of any call and everything will be documented. They will also do their best to remain objective.

“We want to make sure that the officers appear neutral and that we don’t take sides in any of these incidents because that’s not what we want to do,” Rosado said. “We are also aware that our appearance could be a form of voter intimidation, and we do not want to do that.”

Police in Arlington also reported no major calls or disruptions at polling places during the early election, but Rosado said a history of non-violent demonstrations does not mean Arlington police are not preparing for potential unrest.

“We’re always prepared, like we have a plan in place and I think that’s just part of being professional and making sure we serve our citizens,” Rosado said. “We have a real-time crime center that monitors things online and what they see. They haven’t reported any direct threats or anything like that in Arlington, but we are monitoring that and we are keeping an eye on it.”

The vote count, especially for presidential elections, is not widely expected to be complete by election night. Rosado said Arlington police will simply stop monitoring possible unrest Wednesday morning or once the presidential results are known.

And with unrest in Washington DC after the 2020 election Still fresh in many people’s minds, Rosado said Arlington police will also be ready for unrest on Inauguration Day.

“We will continue to monitor until the entire process is completed, and I am sure that in January, during the inauguration time, whoever wins, we will also have to be alert,” Rosado said. “That’s something we’re going to pay attention to and monitor our real-time crime center.”

Spokespeople for the Fort Worth Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Dallas police previously said the more than 2,300 overtime hours incurred in September were due in part to training in connection with the elections.

“We have increased our training for our specialized response group in recent months in preparation for the election and possible post-election protests,” Interim Police Chief Michael Igo told members of the Public Safety Committee.

When District 13 Council Member Gay Donnell Willis questioned the overtime, Igo confirmed it was “more than normal” overtime due to special election and post-election training.

— KERA News reporter Nathan Collins contributed to this report.