Police in the Twin Cities say they’re ready for the tens of thousands of protesters expected to greet President Bush and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC).

The St. Paul Police Department is getting help on security from about 3,500 officers from around the country, according to Tom Walsh, a spokesman for the department.

“They reached out to us and we put out a notice for volunteers within the department,” said Officer Eddy Chrispin, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department, which is planning to send about 75 officers. “And we’ve gotten more volunteers than [the city of St. Paul] requested.”

The police may be needed, as protesters angry about the Iraq war are hoping to give President Bush an angry send-off.

Members of local anti-war movements in the Twin Cities formed the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War when the GOP announced it would hold its convention in St. Paul. The group said it is coordinating about 50,000 protesters from 125 organizations to march on the opening day of the convention.

“Life in Iraq is unlivable and the Iraqi people deserve to govern themselves,” said Jess Sundin, an organizer with the coalition. “If the Republicans want to hold a convention in St. Paul, they need to hear from everyone who lives here and anyone else who wants to come what we think of their policies.”

The majority of the protesters are expected to come from Minnesota, although Sundin said many buses of protesters would arrive from large cities on the East and West coasts.

The possible size of the protests has led to worries from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota that some police might not have the training and experience to provide security.

“If they’re bringing in officers from small departments like upstate Minnesota or from Iowa and Wisconsin where they haven’t had a lot of experience with crowd control, my concern is that we’re going to have a lot of police overreaction to situations and possibly violence just because they’re not adequately trained,” said Teresa Nelson, legal counsel for the ACLU of Minnesota.

The Minnesota ACLU expects as many as 800 arrests and plans to have 75 lawyers on call to defend protesters. But Walsh predicted St. Paul will handle things differently from New York, which drew criticism during the 2004 convention for arresting 1,800 people, many of whom were detained for lengthy periods. Only 600 people were arrested at the 2000 GOP convention in Philadelphia.

“We’ve said since the beginning that we’re not following the New York City model,” Walsh said. “So I don’t think that that’s going to occur in our city.”

Police are also coming from Milwaukee and from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as well as from Washington in the form of the U.S. Capitol Police, who generally send a contingent to the conventions.

“During the time when Congress is in recess, we can afford to reduce manpower some, simply because there’s not as much activity on the Hill during this period,” said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police (USCP). “However, sufficient USCP units remain in D.C., and our ability to carry out our police functions is unaffected while our contingent is traveling.”

The U.S. Department of Justice provided St. Paul with a $50 million grant for security. St. Paul police recently spent more than $2 million of that to mount 45 new security cameras throughout the city’s downtown area, with a focus around the Xcel Energy Center, where the convention is being held, and the surrounding intersections.

The main protest will be a march on Monday from the state capitol down West 7th Street, which will eventually put protesters within 84 feet of the Xcel Energy Center’s primary entrances. The route will also lead the demonstrators by several media tents.

Protesters originally wanted to nearly encircle the center, but their proposed route was shot down by the city. Protesters and the ACLU brought the decision to court, but the city’s move was upheld by a federal judge.

The judge who shot down the protest groups’ preferred route said security officials, given the attendance of President Bush and other officials, needed to be concerned with “terrorist attacks, lone gunmen, fire, chemical or biological attacks, detonation of explosive devices and suicide bombers.”

She also said the city’s preferred route for the protests was justified to ensure that emergency vehicles could access the center, and an easier evacuation procedure could be provided.

Over the past few weeks, protesters have tried to organize alternative or “breakaway” marches that would deviate from the main route. This could spread police forces thin.

“These breakaway marches will effectively serve as a roving blockade to prevent the Republicans from gathering, promoting and celebrating their policies of war and destruction,” wrote Ray Louis on www.opednews.com.

Police will also have to handle counter demonstrations that have been planned for Monday. A coalition, including Minnesota’s American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, is planning to pass out at least 3,000 signs bearing the slogan “Victory Over Terrorism — Let Our Soldiers Win.”

Both Nelson of the Minnesota ACLU and Walsh of the St. Paul Police agreed that the best-case scenario for the protests would be safe demonstrations with few arrests.

“The delegates would arrive, they’d do their business, and they’d leave,” Walsh said, describing an ideal week.

“The protesters would go to the public viewing area, they would express their opinions about the state of the country and at the end of the day they’d go back to their homes or lodging and we’d all get along just fine.”