GOP convention presents security challenge

The threat of terrorist attack doesn't loom as large this year as it did during the color-coded summer of 2004, and the massive demonstrations that greeted GOP delegates in New York City aren't expected to play out on the same scale in St. Paul. But the dozens of local, state, and federal agencies contributing to this year's security effort will still face plenty of challenges in protecting the event. Although Manhattan tested its security planners with verticality--potential threats could come from atop a tall building or from the train tracks below Madison Square Garden--in Minnesota, the problems are more horizontal. Convention attendees will be spread throughout the Twin Cities, and also in nearby towns such as Maple Grove and Bloomington, forcing law enforcement to protect a comparatively decentralized gathering. Adding to the hurdles, St. Paul organizers have to protect more area with fewer officers. In New York, planners could count on the city's small army of 50,000 police officers and firefighters to provide security; the city of St. Paul, by contrast, employs about 600 police officers. Coming up with the 3,500 cops needed to safeguard the convention has meant looking to friends both near and far. During convention week, officers from nearby cities and county agencies, and from smaller police departments across the state, will beef up security. "We have a long history in Minnesota of working together and taking care of each other," said Tom Walsh of the St. Paul Police Department. Working alongside the police will be a host of federal agencies, from NORAD to the Coast Guard to the Secret Service. Both municipal and federal officials say they are well prepared to coordinate the many participating agencies. And the estimated $37.5 million cost of the security operation falls well below the $50 million that federal funding provides. Not everyone is impressed with the organizational efforts, however, and a coalition of protest groups has taken the city to court over the route and timing of a march scheduled for September 1, the opening day of the convention. "The city's been planning for everything but this march," said Theresa Nelson of the Minnesota ACLU. "Where to put the marchers has been an afterthought." The legal haziness isn't deterring protesters, however. Organizers say they expect 50,000 people to attend, many demonstrating against the Iraq war and--taking advantage of one of his last big moments in the national spotlight--against President Bush.