Democratic-Republican National Convention 2003 - Essay Example

Democratic Republican National Convention al Affiliation) The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a series ofpresidential nominating conventions which takes place in the United States. The fist of this event to be recorded was in the year 1832 and ever since they have been taking place after every four year. The purpose of the event is to nominate and confirm people eligible for the presidential and vice presidential seat and also come up with a comprehensive party platform. The Site Search & Selection Committee of the DRNC, after making an allowance for a number of large cities including Phoenix, Tampa, New York, and Atlanta, the DRNC resolved to have the convention in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Miami-Dade has had a extensive record of hosting large scale exceptional events such as Super Bowls (1999, 2007, and 2011), Presidential Debates (2004), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Conference in 2003, and the Summit of the Americas in 1994. In addition to that, Miami-Dade had the essential infrastructure in position (including lodge accommodation, international airport and seaport amenities, sports grounds with large space capacities), and a verified expertise in the setting up and implementation of large-scale special events that would meet the DRNC expectations. Additionally, the area’s temperate climate makes it a favored site for conventioneers from various different organizations. Democratic Republican National Convention Getting the DRNC Convention is well thought-out to be a major coop for local officials owing to the expected positive impact that it will have on the area economy. Precedent political conventions such as this one are anticipated to have brought anywhere from $150 - $160 million to the home economies of the host city. In comparison, the 2007 Super Bowl is likely to have brought over $463 million to the local economy of the tri-county area consisting of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties (Kan, 2006). Regardless of the economic payback, there is a negative aspect connected with these large-scale particular events. For instance, the expenditure for security arrangement and planning for the FTAA Conference in Miami in 2003 was anticipated to scale up to $23.9 million. The 2000 World Trade Organization (WTO) Conference in Seattle, Washington is approximated to have incurred cost of around $9.3 million indirect security expenditure. Further affected areas like King County and Washington State Patrol, accounted for an additional $6 million in security costs for that occasion. The figure above does not put into consideration for “indirect” costs connected with break claims against the City of Seattle approximated to be as much as $150 million (Seattle PD, 2004). Major Louis Warren has taken charge of DRNC department. He additional chose Melanie Duncan as the Police director of Miami Dade. Major Warren was an expert in crime investigation department and had experience and skilled for guessing the terrorism, but this time he had an entire control of the Miami department. His strong background in crime detection was due to his masters in management and public administration (Michael, 2006). This distinctive quality made him more important from the others. Additionally, he had worked in the Department of Criminal Intelligence Bureau for two years, so he had absolute information about intelligence and the other factors that are typically used in criminal undertakings. Threats, vulnerabilities, consequences and recommendations As with other large-scale special occasions of this extent, media reporting was anticipated to be rigorous. Over 15,000 media personnel from all over the world are expected to cover the weeklong event. The media reporting dedicated to this meticulous event put Miami-Dade public eye and as with all other alike political conventions, it is probable to draw a large number of special curios protest assemblage. And obviously, as with all greatly publicized huge assembly of people, the terrorist threat must also be factored in. Miami-Dade Police had been designated as the lead operational planner for the event security. The U.S. Secret Service had been designated as the lead coordinating agency with overarching statutory authority for the planning and execution of the event. In order to analyze a risk, the likelihood of a threat happening must be taken into consideration, plus the outcomes linked with the threat maturing. Some threats are prone to happen, but are not very far-reaching. A good example of a high risk that has low consequences is traffic jam. Many delegates and non-delegates were to attend the event. Special roads were set aside in which these people would pass, meaning that few roads were available for public use and this would have resulted in traffic snarl up. Protest is a possible large scale threat though its consequences are less felt. In light of latest events all over the nation, assorted groups such as Black Bloc might pose a threat of hostility to other protest groups plus a universal threat to the general public in the downtown area. Great crowds together with groups that rouse argument such as the aforesaid group, the Tea Party Movement, the Wall Street Movement, unorganized elites of revolutionaries within the crowd all present a threat to each other and, as acknowledged before, the general public in downtown Miami. In addition to the restlessness about violence, comes the natural alarm over demolition of public and private belongings all over the downtown area and possibly around the whole city should protest swell to other parts of the city. Efforts to limit them is a well intended step in defending the city nevertheless, in the event the protests increase outside this area or turn out to be violent, inhibition may not be promising. As with any violent protest, potential for weapons are possible accompaniments. Violence could take place and the use of guns or home-produced artillery are a potential peril as well as the threat not only from protest and demonstration groups but also terrorist groups based upon the type of event the DRNC is and what it correspond to not only in the vicinity and all over the country but universally. High-quality intelligence, scrutiny, law enforcement strategy and sound guidelines are required to assist pull off a safe and successful convention in terms of law enforcement reaction by the MDPD (Gilbert & Jeff, 2005). Having an aerial view of what the protestors are doing will be of great significance. Regular police helicopters can be used to relay continuous this information though they are very expensive to maintain. Their fuel consumption is around $320 per hour. In additional to that, helicopters are associated with fatigue. Another option would to use a drone which consumes $50 per hour on fuel. With effective aerial surveillance, “real time” information on the protests’ next move can easily be predicted. In matters of external insecurity in dealing with terrorist attacks that may have been planned against the Convention. The federal governments should ensure that the military forces, the navy, CID, police force and FBI, are equipped with military weapons of all diversify and balance. It should also ensure that the weapons are adequately available to deter both external attacks from terrorists. People attend the event should be searched thoroughly and their identities should be well understood. Check points within the building can be installing from where people have to register before heading into the venue of the Convention. Another small scale threat with large scale impacts lack of coordination and communication between the diverse departments, alongside the consequential incapability to efficiently react to whatsoever unfavorable event could take place. This deficient in communication could also put off the team from successfully assessing the risk of something unpleasant happening and not being well equipped for them. The different departments would need to be able to work jointly and combine forces in order to bring about preferred outcomes. Another large scale threat that may occur is detonation of a nuclear bomb at the venue of the convention. Terrorists may find their way into the building and plant a bomb. Also cases of bombs being planted into cars have recently been reported. Incase a nuclear bomb detonates, which is extremely unlikely, many people will lose their life. This is a large scale threat with little likelihood but with devastating consequences. In order to contain such and be prepared for such a threat, the federal government and homeland security should deploy the recent “Winnebago Air Force One” RV-sized vehicles to survey any unwanted activity. These vehicles will be put in place, incase of any attack, they can be used to offer refuge to dignitaries and other government ranking officials. Other measures that can be implemented are use of remote controlled suit-sized robots to monitor any suspicious packages left on the streets or within the premises (Preston, 2013). It has been mentioned before that most terrorists plant bombs on cars and leave them unmanned. The federal governments can therefore put cameras, with high zooming capabilities, on the rooftops of high buildings. These cameras will be used to zoom into the number plates of all cars that enter and leave specified points of the streets. In additional to that, the cameras should have infrared technology that detects metallic objects that exhibit weird behaviors since some of terrorists may use American cars but carry bombs with them. Finally, round-the-clock video surveillance cameras should be installed in the downtown to monitor all angles of the area providing useful information on the undertakings of different people. Coupled with video recording capabilities, it will be easy to follow up the trail incase of anything happens and goes unnoticed. To make this more effective, all law enforcement officers should have hand-held computers that are enabled to receive surveillance information. In September 1926, a great hurricane occurred in Miami and destroyed a lot of properties. This is a large scale threat whose likelihood of occurrence is very minimal. However, in the instance of a hurricane occurring, many people will lose their lives. Since 1926, no hurricane has been recorded in Miami. Ignoring such threat would be a great assumption given that Florida boards Atlantic Ocean; it is vulnerable to such a catastrophe. Given that hurricanes take are accompanied with huge winds, rooftops, garage doors should be tightly secured so as to reduce damage that may be caused. Power loss may be experienced in the event as the wind may interrupt power lines. There should be installation of power generators to provide instant power supply. The federal governments should consider building safe houses where people will take refuge incase of floods. Finally, it is hard to predict all the damage that can be caused by such a threat. In this regard, the federal government may also decide to ensure the convention against risks from hurricane. This will provide immediate compensation to most of the damages that may occur if the hurricane hit. The final threat is the risk of fire occurring. Fire may be cause by several things. During protests and demonstrations, people may decide to set fire in the downtown. Fire may also arise during storms. Lightinign may strike and cause fire. Though this threat is limited in its likelihood of occurrence, it has a great impact on property and sometimes to people. Measures to prevent any outbreak of fire in causing more damage should be established at hand. The initial concern should be evacuating people from the building. This can be done using aerial means like helicopters and other means. Fire extinguishing equipments should be well distributed within the are where the convention will take place. Finally, first aiders should be informed prior. It is important to note that any threat that takes place, either external or internal treats, innocent people are also affected. It is in this regard that communication campaigns should be established to notify the public and other agencies of their responsibility during the convention. It is the responsibility of people to maintain peace and order, shunning away from protests. However, incase of anything threat that comes up and that may catch the public unaware, it is the duty of law enforcers to notify the public (Ron, 2012). The convention was to last one week, meaning a large portion of resources will be channeled to it. This means that less focus and attention will be directed to local affairs. This is risky. It is for this reason that the federal government and homeland security ought to associate with other security agencies before the convention. This will ensure joint training that is significant to the event and minimization of confusion during the day of the convention. Finally, the organizing committee should have a back up team. It should work out the logistics of recruiting extra personnel from outside. This is because such, a given country may have the ability and capacity to ensure adequate security within a short period of time. However, this is an event that lasts for about one week. In other works, the available manpower may not be enough given that the state has is daily activities that needs equal attention as well. Diverting all the attention to one event for a complete week, may create vulnerabilities for eternal attacks. As to conclusion, Democratic Republican National Convention is an important event since it enables people nominates and confirms their president. However, it is accompanied with other drawbacks like, low economic turnover for the period of time the event is being hosted. It also opens loopholes for external attacks from terrorists. Finally, the event is accompanied with a lot of expenditure within a short period of time thus leaving the economy of the state dwindling. It is in this regard that the organizing committee should ensure that the event brings benefit to the state and to society at large. References Kan, N. (2006).Proceedings of the National Republican Conventions held at Frankfort on Thursday, December 9th. Public Administration. 84(1). pp. 205-220 Michael C. (2006). The book of the Republican national convention, Cleveland, Ohio, June 9th2006.New York: Spiney Press. Gilbert, T., & Jeff, H., (2005). Presidential election, Proceedings of the National Union Republican Convention held at Philadelphia.. New York: Sage Publications. Preston, D., (2013). Official program, the 29th Republican National Convention. Boston: SAGE. Ron, B., (2012). Bifurcated politics: evolution and reform in the national party convention.Cambridge: Smart Guide Publications. Read More