Here's how Waukesha officials plan to keep all future city parades safe
WAUKESHA - It seems fitting that the city's most somber annual parade will serve as the testing ground for new safety equipment aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade.
The Memorial Day parade through downtown Waukesha on May 30 will see limited deployment of the first shipment of safety barriers — portable devices capable of disabling vehicles as large as semi tractors from sudden and unauthorized access to key points along the parade route.
The event will give way to more celebratory parades, beginning with the Fourth of July parade five weeks later, when a more complete complement of Advanced Security Technologies' Modular Vehicle Barriers will begin making street-centered events safer, Waukesha Police Capt. Dan Baumann said.
"In layman's terms, they get set up, they get put in place, and they are there to block vehicles from accessing areas of denial to, specifically, the parade route," Baumann said in describing the effectiveness of the MVB3X barriers. "They can be moved in emergency situations relatively quick and easy, but once they are set in place the idea is that they won't get moved until the event is completed."
Making Waukesha parades more safe
How effective are the barriers? Videos compiled by the manufacturer demonstrate how the barriers, when struck, roll and twist under trucks weighing up to 7.5 tons, disabling the vehicles within a few feet after initial contact.
Taking all that into consideration, public safety workers from City Hall and the police station set up a strategy to use the fully portable equipment. Without getting into too-specific detail, Baumann said the MVB3X barriers will secure the outer perimeter where vehicles could try to access the parade route within that secured perimeter.
The exception, of course, will be access points necessary for parade vehicles, where public safety vehicles will guard openings and keep a manual eye on traffic.
As part of the strategy, officials created a full-circuit route that will remain the same for all three parades — Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Christmas — every year, making the placement of the safety barriers routine. The route can be viewed on the city's website.
In a statement announcing the new measures, Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly tried to regain the confidence of the avid crowd of parade attendees of the past.
"I look forward to continuing our great tradition of community events and parades here in the City of Waukesha," Reilly said. "I appreciate the efforts of our entire Waukesha team as we review our safety measures and make improvements."
The first shipment of barriers were expected to arrive roughly a week before the Memorial Day parade. A second shipment, completing the order, was expected to be on hand in time for the July 4 event, Baumann said.
He has confidence in the effectiveness of the equipment.
"Where the barriers are placed to stop a vehicle, I'm highly confident of that," Baumann said.
The safety barriers will also be used for weekly Friday Night Live events, which this year will kick off on June 3. City officials previously announced that they were discussing whether the equipment can be rented out for such events, defraying the costs to the city.
The Waukesha Common Council voted on April 8 to acquire the MVB3X barriers with $830,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The decision was in response to concerns about enhancing safety following the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy on Nov. 21, in which six people were killed by an SUV driven by a man who drove past barricades and police officers.
Darrell Brooks Jr. was charged in those deaths as part of an 83-count criminal case still working its way through Waukesha County Circuit court. His trial is scheduled to begin in early October.
Baumann acknowledged the Memorial Day parade has a different connotation than the Christmas parade, given the May 30 parade's role in honoring fallen heroes in American wars, so one purpose of the barriers to allow the crowd to enjoy a fun, carefree event doesn't necessarily apply for now.
"You don't say 'Happy Memorial Day.' I think people understand what Memorial Day is," Baumann said. "This (parade) event, by its design, is going to be a somber event. It's not going to be festive."
But he's looking forward to the Fourth of July parade and a notably safer Christmas parade.
Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New safety barriers to be installed for all future Waukesha parades
