Political Protection
Securing the 2004 Conventions
By Josh Long

THE DEMOCRATIC and Republican national conventions have been designated a National Special Security Event. The Secret Service is the lead federal agency responsible for the design and implementation of security operations during the summer conventions at the FleetCenter in Boston and Madison Square Garden in New York City, respectively. Both are located atop rail lines, prompting further concern following the March 11 bombing of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, that killed nearly 200 people and injured nearly 10 times more. The precedent is doubly disturbing since one of the Madrid bombers’ objective was to disrupt the Spanish elections, says Walt Purdy, a director with the Burke,Va.-based Terrorism Research Center. Three days later, the incumbent Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar lost his re-election bid in the general elections. The incoming prime minister pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq, a source of debate in the elections. Purdy says it is unknown how an attack at the conventions or near the time of the U.S. presidential election would hurt or help a candidate.

“Who knows politically what happens. But on anybody’s watch an attack is not something good,” he says.

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert with the Santa Monica, Calif.-based RAND Corp., says if terrorists want to affect the outcome of an election, the conventions would make attractive targets. Protecting them is a daunting task. Hoffman says authorities must not only protect the conventions, they also must safeguard other venues, including hotels housing dignitaries and places where related social events are being hosted. “The conventions are almost akin to the problem of protecting an Olympic venue,” Hoffman says. “You’ve got this multiplicity of targets. An attack on a peripheral site can nonetheless have a profound impact on the event itself. You are really talking about security for an entire city, not just for the convention.”

When Eric Rudolph allegedly planted a bomb that killed one woman and injured others during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Rudolph targeted an area where there was less security: Centennial Olympic Park.

During an interview in April, Secret Service spokeswoman Ann Roman says the agency and its federal, state and local partners had been coordinating a security plan for more than a year. The Secret Service is working with the Boston Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and New York City Police Department, among other agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is responsible for intelligence gathering and crisis management, Roman says, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency is accountable for responding to a major crisis.

Roman says the Secret Service’s role as the lead federal agency during the conventions does not supersede the jurisdictions of state and local authorities. “They are complementary to us in trying to plan and implement the security plan.We don’t go into there and all of a sudden the local [police department] has no say,” she says.

Local authorities declined to comment on their roles in providing security for the conventions. A spokesman with the Boston Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman with the New York City Police Department declined to provide any details when asked about security plans during the convention Aug. 30 - Sept. 2. “Nothing has been made public. It’s still in the planning stages,” says detective Kevin Czartoryski, who added the department generally never discloses the number of officers deployed to protect a special event.

During a press conference March 31, the Secret Service disclosed plans to close part of Interstate-93 in the evenings during the Democratic convention. The agency also says it would close the North Station subway station near the FleetCenter. For the Republican convention, the agency does not plan to close Penn Station, the train station underneath Madison Square Garden. Roman says there probably likely be some street closures in New York but nothing had been announced yet.

Closing down certain parts of the subway system during the Republican convention would be both a preventive and tactical measure, notes internationally known security consultant Peter Raymond.

“The subway [also] could be used as an evacuation route in the event of a disaster,” he says, adding that routes to local hospitals also would need to remain clear. Raymond says authorities might elect to close the harbors to private craft during the conventions and to restrict shipping during the same period.

Secret Service spokeswoman Roman responded in very general terms when asked whether authorities would screen luggage and people on the trains. During a press conference in March, Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge said the government would start a pilot program to screen luggage and carry-on bags at rail stations and aboard trains, but he would not say where it would take place (see story on page 12).

Authorities are not worried only about explosions. Terrorists around the world have used many other crude devices, from box cutters to chemical weapons. Roman says the agency does not discuss its detection methods.

Craig Gundry, vice president of special projects with Critical Intervention Services, a Clearwater, Fla.-based company providing training and consulting on security issues, including terrorism, says authorities likely would use metal detectors at the conventions to screen weapons.

The metal detectors not only detect the presence of metal used in a bomb, they also can find metal used with chemical and biological dissemination devices. He says some devices create an explosion — similar to a bomb — which spreads chemical or biological agents. It is “one of the easiest methods of disseminating chemical and biological agents,” he says. Gundry also says it is likely authorities would use pagers that monitor radiation levels in the environment. He says the devices — a relatively advanced technology — have been used for major public events.

“The Boston and New York political conventions no doubt will employ some of the latest and most advanced equipment available,” says Raymond. “Equipment has been designed, ordered and built specifically for the conventions, and will someday become available in the commercial marketplace.”

Potentially, he says, facial-recognition cameras placed in corridors can identify suspected terrorists by matching facial features with images stored in a database. If the technology makes a positive match, an alert goes off, allowing trained personnel to communicate, direct and control the incident. “A facialrecognition product typically should be located at the outer reaches of an event location,” he says. “Enhancing this type of surveillance, cameras also should be placed in parking lots and roads leading to the event.”

While access control will be a priority, Gundry says it is unlikely authorities would use biometrics because it is not practical at a venue where there is a large gathering of people for a short period of time.

However, Gundry says biometrics may be used where only a select number of people have authorized access within a venue. He says in order for technology to be effective, “everything has to be designed to work together.”

“Technology needs to be used in accordance with a sound and integrated strategy for intercepting a wide spectrum — of possible threats,” he says. Security consultant Raymond agrees.

“Having all of this equipment is meaningless if it is not integrated into a central command and control facility,” he says. “The security community will require instant access to information, and will need to be assured of the integrity of the evidence [in the event of an incidence].”

Accordingly, computer and transmission security also must be established to prevent tampering and interference with — and the potential collapse of — the communications network. A complete system is being put in place to secure computer data, video and voice systems and to prevent external interference.

Republican National Convention When: Aug. 30-Sept. 2 Who: Projected 50,000 attendees, including President George W. Bush. Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City Capacity: 19,522 seats Facility Security Director: Tom Nadal

Photo provided by Madison Square Garden

Democratic National Convention When: July 26-29 Who: More than 25,000 people, including dignitaries and expected party nominee Sen. John Kerry. Where: Fleet Center, Boston Capacity: 19,600 seats, 2,400 club seats, 104 executive suites Facility Security Director: Steve Denelsbeck DNCC Security Director: Edward McNelley