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Updated 9:51 a.m., Friday, Sept. 25, 2020

Cleveland police will take an 鈥渁ll-hands-on-deck鈥� approach to Tuesday鈥檚 presidential debate, working with the Ohio National Guard and federal agencies to provide security, Safety Director Karrie Howard said Wednesday.

The Cleveland Clinic, which is co-hosting the event with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), has agreed to cover the city鈥檚 overtime costs, Howard said.

, the safety director sought to reassure council members who questioned whether the debate would sap the Cleveland Division of Police鈥檚 attention and resources.

鈥淲e will not be securing the area around the Cleveland Clinic while letting the rest of the community go by the wayside,鈥� Howard said. 鈥淲e will be attentive to the entire city.鈥�  

Police brass have canceled days off except for scheduled vacations, and officers will work 12-hour shifts during the Sept. 29 showdown between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The debate will take place at the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion at the Clinic and CWRU鈥檚 Health Education Campus. The Secret Service is in charge of security inside the venue, while the city will provide police protection in the perimeter outside, Howard said. This week around the venue. 

In a statement, Mayor Frank Jackson's office said Gov. Mike DeWine approved the mayor's request to send in the National Guard "to ensure the safety of the residents of and visitors to the City of Cleveland."

The city is banning a long list of items 鈥� including lumber, fireworks, backpacks larger than 18鈥� x 13鈥� x 7鈥� and pepper spray 鈥� within a multi-block 鈥渆vent zone鈥� around the Cleveland Clinic campus, . The zone stretches from E. 79th Street east to Stokes Boulevard, and from Hough Avenue south to Cedar Avenue.

Cleveland will not restrict demonstrations to 鈥減rotest zones,鈥� Howard said.

鈥淓ven if we provided protest zones, there is nothing that stops them, we can鈥檛 prohibit them, constitutionally, from protesting anywhere where they want to outside of the secured area,鈥� Howard said.

Councilman Blaine Griffin said he was concerned about possible unrest outside the debate spilling over into the surrounding neighborhood, part of which he represents.

In a phone interview Thursday, Griffin said he expected the city to have more resources on hand than during the summer鈥檚 demonstrations against the police killing of George Floyd. Those protests in Downtown Cleveland escalated into vandalism, while police used pepper balls, flash grenades and other devices on the crowd.

鈥淲hat we have to do is restore the public confidence that this will not be a repeat of May 30, and that we actually have more assets on the ground from the federal, state and local government,鈥� he said.

Griffin said he expects demonstrators from across the ideological spectrum to converge outside the debate. He invited police leaders to meet with Fairfax neighborhood residents over the weekend to answer their questions about debate preparations.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to have a plethora of thought that鈥檚 going to descend upon Cleveland, and all of them are not going to agree,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to make sure that everyone recognizes that this is our city, and we don鈥檛 want anyone to damage our city.鈥�

Some council members said they felt the debate was 鈥渢hrust upon鈥� the city in July after the University of Notre Dame declined to hold the event and the Clinic and CWRU stepped in as hosts.

Cleveland should have followed Notre Dame鈥檚 lead and passed on the debate, Councilman Tony Brancatelli said at Wednesday鈥檚 council meeting.

鈥淚 openly acknowledge I鈥檓 not excited about the Trump circus coming to town,鈥� he said.