Because if he was preparing for a riot that would be racist.

FORT LAUDERDALE — Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, his top brass, several police chiefs and dozens of pastors and community leaders from throughout the county met on Tuesday to prepare for any fallout triggered by the verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial.

“We have no reason to believe there will be any civil unrest of any kind,” Israel said. “We just want to be prepared.”

The preparations discussed at the 45-minute meeting included the sheriff’s Raise Your Voice public service announcements designed to encourage the expression of joy or frustration, whichever way the verdict goes, while discouraging any violent backlash. […]

“We are not preparing for a riot. We’re not preparing for a riot,” he stressed to the audience. “What we are doing now is being proactive to defuse that.”

If the verdict comes down before weekend services, pastors said they can still get information to their congregations the old-fashioned way.

“Our people are connected community-wide and they’ll spread the word,” said Pastor Rasheed Baaith, of Christ Resurrection Community Church in Fort Lauderdale. “Will we get everyone? Probably not, but we’ll get a good number of folks.