I don't know why this is an issue.

At no cost to the city, 36 officers from the Milwaukee Police Department will be sent to assist at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

There won't be fewer officers on Milwaukee's streets during the four-day period.

So why get bent out of shape over this?

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee aldermen voted 13-0 Tuesday to send 36 police officers to help protect the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., next month.

...Because the U.S. Secret Service is in charge of convention security, the federal government is reimbursing all police costs.

[Police Chief Edward] Flynn told the Common Council he wanted to send a platoon from his Major Incident Response Team partly in the spirit of mutual aid, and partly to give his officers valuable training to prepare for presidential candidate visits in an election year.

The chief promised aldermen that police would maintain full staffing throughout the city while their colleagues are away. All of the officers involved will use time off to attend the convention, and the federal government will pay them at overtime rates, Flynn said.

Ald. Jim Witkowiak said his constituents were worried that police response time in Milwaukee would deteriorate during the convention. But Witkowiak said he was reluctantly supporting the deployment for training purposes, based on commitments from Flynn and his command staff to maintain normal service levels.

Council President Willie Hines Jr. said aldermen may have responded differently if the request came earlier in the summer, when major incidents have been more common. But with crime down, the assurances that the trip wouldn’t affect police service and wouldn’t cost local taxpayers anything were the keys to approving Flynn’s request, Hines said.

Mayor Tom Barrett’s spokeswoman has said Barrett supports the deployment for the same reasons.

...The council interrupted its August recess to approve Flynn’s request and to grant late applications from downtown bars seeking permission for outdoor liquor sales during the 105th anniversary festivities for Harley-Davidson Inc. Hines took pains to note the recess was not a monthlong vacation.

Read more at: FREEDOM EDEN