http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1127633.html

Convention plan includes preparing for 3,000 arrests
Ramsey County's sheriff wants a fenced-in
facility for detainees arrested at the GOP convention.
By Randy Furst, Star Tribune
Last update: April 17, 2007 ­ 11:10 PM

About $550,000 for a possible open-air, fenced
detention facility to hold protesters next to the
Ramsey County Workhouse; $1.7 million for
overtime, and $62,000 for biohazard decontamination equipment.

These are among the items included in a $4.4
million budget proposal by Ramsey County Sheriff
Bob Fletcher, who was told by St. Paul police to
plan for 3,000 arrests during the 2008 Republican
National Convention in St. Paul.

Fletcher's budget is the first time this level of
detail about the security costs for local law enforcers has been available.

The idea of developing a plan for 3,000 arrests
drew sharp criticism this week from the American
Civil Liberties Union in Minnesota, which said it
was far too high and represented an overreaction by authorities.

Also included in the projected expenses is
$350,000 in riot equipment and Tasers to control
protesters engaged in civil disobedience.

Fletcher said the budget includes $3.9 million
for protester-related costs, including $3 million
for prisoner processing and detention and
$900,000 for training personnel and controlling civil disobedience.

"We asked [the Sheriff's Office] to be prepared
for roughly 3,000 arrests," St. Paul police Cmdr.
Joe Neuberger said. That estimate was also used
for the GOP convention in New York and for the
Democratic convention in Boston in 2004, he said.
"In law enforcement, it's much easier to scale back than it is to ramp up."

Tom Walsh, a St. Paul police spokesman, cautioned
that it is too early to forecast the number of arrests.

"We have to, as a police agency, be reasonably
prepared for this thing," he said.

The county thinks St. Paul will agree to cover
the costs through a $50 million appropriation
expected from Congress to cover convention security.

Charles Samuelson, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, said
the Republican Convention in New York drew
hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, far more
than are predicted for St. Paul in 2008, yet New
York had fewer arrests than St. Paul is planning for.

Samuelson worried that once 3,000 was in the St.
Paul police plan, it could lead to 3,000 arrests.

"I don't agree that it's a self-fulfilling
prophecy that if we plan for 3,000, we will
arrest 3,000," Neuberger said. "Our goal is to arrest no one."

Neuberger said New York arrested 1,806
protesters, including 1,100 on one day, and Boston arrested a total of six.

But the planning had to start somewhere, and
Ramsey County needed a number to start with, Neuberger said.

The largest projected cost in Fletcher's budget
is the $1.7 million for overtime salaries to
cover work during the convention and training
staff in lawful and humane detention procedures, he said.

"We want to avoid as many lawsuits as possible," he said.

Where to hold protesters?

While it has not been decided, the Sheriff's
Office is considering transporting arrested
protesters to a fenced field with tents and
temporary cooling units next to the workhouse. He
said he expected most protesters would be released in two to four hours.

"I hope it is a nice warm, dry day," Samuelson
said. "Otherwise, because of the lawsuits, this
could be the most expensive thing they do, if it doesn't work right."

Told about the possible open-air detention
facility, Mary Beaudoin, director of Women
Against Military Madness, a local protest group,
said, "It's hideous, it's terrifying. Are they
going to have us wear orange jumpsuits and hoods,
too? It sounds like Guantanamo Bay."

Fletcher said, "All these expenses are being
proposed in the spirit that we make sure we treat
the detainees with dignity and respect." He said
the budget includes adequate amounts of food,
temporary air conditioning units and medical
services and supplies, which were concerns raised
by detainees in demonstrations elsewhere in the country.

"We want to make sure we meet every need," he said.

"There are three types of protesters," Fletcher
said. "There are peaceable protesters," which he
expects will make up about 95 percent of the demonstrators.

Passive resisters will block traffic and want to
be arrested but won't damage property, he said.

"The third group is what Seattle experienced,"
Fletcher said, referring to 1999 protests at a
meeting of the World Trade Organization. "The
anarchists -- the criminal element that intend to damage property."

Protest organizers in the Twin Cities said they
are planning for a peaceful, legal mass march,
but there is also talk of peaceful civil
disobedience. Another local group has indicated
it may organize disruptive actions.

Fletcher's budget proposal has been sent to
County Manager David Twa, who will make his
recommendations to the County Board in July. It
will hold hearings in August and September.

The Hennepin County Board has yet to ask for a
convention budget, and the Sheriff's Office has
not yet developed one, said Sheriff Rich Stanek.
He said he was unaware of protest arrest estimates in Minneapolis.

Kathryn Janicek, spokeswoman for the Hennepin
sheriff, said her agency is preparing for mass arrests.

"We have always trained, and we are continuing to train for this," she said.

Staff researcher Roberta Hovde contributed to this report.
Randy Furst • 612-673-7382 • rfurst @ startribune.com