Republican VP candidate Vance speaks to Milwaukee Police Association while campaigning in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE (WLS) -- Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance campaigned Friday in Milwaukee.

Sen. Vance delivered his remarks to the Milwaukee Police Association, and, appropriately, focused on law enforcement, with the Republican campaign set on continuing to paint Democratic-led cities as violent, dangerous places to live.

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He was there for a little over an hour, and sought to criticize President Joe Biden's administration's record on public safety issues.

"We need a president like Donald J. Trump that makes their job easier not harder," Vance said. "If you look at Kamala Harris' record as a prosecutor, it is the opposite of tough on crime."

The event itself was closed to the public, with only about 60 people in attendance inside the police hall, including law enforcement and their families and a handful of public officials.

That didn't stop both supporters and opponents of the Trump-Vance campaign from showing up to make their voices heard.

"It is very important, especially for younger conservatives like myself, to get out here, all across the state, and chase ballots, get low propensity Republicans to turn out and show our presence, especially in a place like Milwaukee, where I think we have a very, very good chance to narrow the margin," Nolan Jackett said.

This is Vance's second visit to Wisconsin this month.

The Republican vice presidential candidate was in Eau Claire on Aug. 7.

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Vance's plane had to return to the tarmac in Milwaukee Friday afternoon, shortly after taking off for Cincinnati.

At least one fire truck could be seen nearby.

Officials said there was a possible issue with the Boeing 737 charter aircraft, operated by Eastern Air.

The issue was fixed, and the plane took off soon after it returned to Milwaukee.

Wisconsin is one of the key battleground states that both parties will be heavily courting over the next three months.

And, in fact, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, are scheduled to be in Milwaukee on Tuesday, as they make their way to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.

The president of the Milwaukee Police Association said the Trump campaign reached out to them about two weeks ago, saying they were looking forward to hearing their concerns, which, much like those of CPD, surround retention and recruitment issues, at a time when the city is still coming down from its COVID-era highs, as it relates to crime.

"We want to know that we're being supported, and, that obviously, back the blue, that people have our backs, because we are the ones that have the community's back, you know," Alexander Ayala said. "Know that police work, by its nature, is not always pretty, but it's necessary, and people that hurt the most are the community when they don't have enough police to answer those calls."

Milwaukee police will have a role to play during the DNC next week.

The police association president said a contingent of around 100 of their officers will be heading down to Chicago to help out, as needed.