Security taking shape for Democratic Convention

Oct 17, 2003 12:00 PM

Authorities have compared it to the Olympics and the Super Bowl -- because planning security for the Democratic National Convention in Boston next July will be a complicated task. Trucks and other large vehicles will be diverted before they reach the FleetCenter, where the convention will be held from July 26-29. The safeguards were discussed by federal and city authorities at a recent meeting of the New England Associated Press News Executives Association.

The convention is expected to bring 35,000 visitors to the Boston area, including about 15,000 members of the news media. Authorities declined to disclose specifics, but graded levels of security surrounding the convention site. The tightest security will encircle the FleetCenter and the Thomas P. O'Neill Federal Building, according to The Boston Globe.

There will also be restrictions on air space, with a military presence.

Convention organizers are seeking $25 million from Congress to cover extra security as part of an appropriation that would provide the same amount to the Republican Convention in New York. The money would be in addition to the $10 million that the city originally budgeted for security.

''The Secret Service is not normally an agency that deals in the public very much, but the security of people in the city has become a media story,'' Special Agent Scott W. Sheafe, coordinator of the agency's plan, told The Boston Globe. ''There will be an aggressive security plan in place, and to the extent that it will affect people's normal everyday lives, we will alert them to that.''

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