The Bloomington-Normal Police Department is preparing for Election Day and its aftermath

Law enforcement officers and other first responders in Bloomington-Normal are preparing for Election Day and whatever may happen next.

“It’s clearly one of the issues we’ve been concerned about since the last election,” he said Illinois State University Police Chief Aaron Woodruff noted that while the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol Even though it wasn’t local, it was still a reminder that elections can turn violent.

Woodruff said his department has participated in a series of tabletop training exercises over the past six months with other Bloomington-Normal first responders, election officials and homeland security. He said they’re planning almost anything.

“From the most likely scenario of a power outage, which could complicate things at our polling place (in the Bone Student Center), all the way to the worst-case scenario is bomb threats and things like that,” Woodruff said.

Then there’s what could happen after the election. There may be cause for celebration or anger – probably both.

City of normal police Chief Steve Petrilli said he doesn’t expect any unrest, but said his department is ready if it occurs.

“Our community remains safe and if we need to intervene, our people have received the proper training to do so,” Petrilli said.

Bloomington Police Department Spokesperson Bryce Janssen said the department is not aware of any threats of violence but plans to monitor any large gatherings.

“Any time we have a gathering of people of that size, we encourage officers to spend a little extra time in that area, whether it’s filling out paperwork at a nearby location or simply driving through more often and to make their presence known,” says Janssen. add BPD is prepared to call in extra help or, if necessary, to call on mutual assistance from other agencies.

Woodruff said the gatherings were small and peaceful after the 2020 presidential election, which lasted four days before Joe Biden was declared the winner. That also came as many people largely avoided large gatherings due to the COVID pandemic.

He noted that opposing political factions began talking to each other shortly after Donald Trump was declared the winner in 2016, and while tempers may have flared, the incident did not turn violent.

Woodruff said ISU also has one safety team demonstrationwhere university administrators are trained in First Amendment rights and de-escalation to intervene.

“We have protests on campus quite regularly,” Woodruff said.