CINCINNATI — Ahead of a busy weekend including the Savana Bananas filling Great American Ballpark, a FIFA World Cup game at TQL Stadium, and potential unrest around planned protests in the greater area, Cincinnati city officials activated the Emergency Operations Center.
The EOC brings all relevant federal, state, county and city officials from fire, EMS and police services into the same room to respond quickly to any issue that may arise.
"For us, the Emergency Operations Center is what we call a coordination entity," Flagler said.
The assistant chief said it didn't mean anything had gone wrong or that they expected trouble, but rather that leaders of each department would be ready if something did happen.
See more about what the city is doing ahead of a busy weekend with several events in the video player below:
"It's for what we call complex events or incidents," Flagler said.
Having everyone in the same room allows for more immediate decision-making and coordination with responders in the field.
Cpt. Jeffrey McDonough with the Cincinnati Fire Special Event Unit met with WCPO at Great American Ballpark, where he was keeping an eye on the thousands of fans excited to see the game.
He said the EOC activation happened about 20 days out of the year.
"It's not an unusual thing," he said.
Flagler said the scheduled protests do add a wrinkle to standard big event preparation, but he said Saturday's demonstrations should remain as peaceful as other recent Cincinnati area protests.
"We expect this weekend to be similar, but we want to soberly prepare because we have seen instances in other communities where things haven't gone the way that they wanted them to go. They weren't as safe, so we're going to do our level best to make sure everyone is safe," he said.
Cincinnati Police said they had their Civil Disturbance Response and SWAT teams available over the weekend.
The assistant chief urged everyone to sign up for emergency alerts on their phones by texting CincyAlerts to 77295.
He said the activation of the EOC allows for emergency alerts for severe weather to be issued earlier as well.
