2008 Republican National Convention Security

The Republican National Convention (RNC) will be held September 1-4, 2008, in the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Republican National Committee awarded its 2008 national convention to Minneapolis-Saint Paul in September 2006 and signed a contract with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul 2008 Host Committee in January 2007. While both Minneapolis and Saint Paul are hosts to the 2008 RNC, the Xcel Energy Center is the site of the convention, which is located in Saint Paul. The RNC was designated a National Special Security Event (NSSE) by the Department of Homeland Security in March 2007. With NSSE status, the United States Secret Service (USSS) is the lead agency in charge of security for the RNC. While the USSS is the lead agency, the Saint Paul Police Department is the lead local agency in charge of security. The City of Saint Paul serves as the fiscal agent for security funding received from other government agencies.

The City of Saint Paul will use this grant to partially offset the costs of the security and related costs associated with the RNC. Funds will be used primarily for officer overtime and equipment. Previous conventions held in 2004 in Boston and New York City demonstrated the need for significant budget resources for public safety services in the immediate host city as well as the surrounding metropolitan area and host state. Consequently, funding will also be used to offset equipment purchases and/or personnel expenses for impacted surrounding jurisdictions that have formal joint powers agreements to support the City of Saint Paul and Minneapolis with security, response, and recovery type activities.

NCA/CF