Tonight is the last night of the convention and everybody is amped up for Mitt Romney's speech. This will be his opportunity to make his case to those voters who are undecided. The day is crowded up until the convention doors open tonight at 6. 

As mentioned the other day Sheriff Joe McGinn spent the day with Some local Tampa Sheriffs. I asked Joe to let me know how it went and here is his report------

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to travel with Hillsborough County (Fla.) Sheriff, David Gee for a behind the scenes look at the security operations surrounding the Republican National Convention (RNC). Over 5,000 uniformed officers from all over the state of Florida are working this event in addition to U.S. Secret Service and the National Guard. I spent the day with a group consisting mostly of Sheriff's from Broward (Fla.) and Hillsborough counties. The large security gathered in Tampa is prepared for all contingencies and working very well together under the Incident Command System (ICS),  a tool used in emergency response situations to help coordinate efforts among large groups through a unified chain of command.

 

With the convention being held at the bottom of a peninsular section of downtown Tampa and the presidential nominee staying nearby, the southern portion of the city is completely restricted with no one allowed in unless they are attending the convention as a delegate or member of the media. I worked on a team responsible for providing security in sectors "C' and "D", which included the YBor City section of Tampa just north of the restricted zones. In addition to the security presence on the streets in Tampa, there are hundreds of emergency responders staged in numerous locations to be called on if needed.

 

The day turned out to be relatively calm and I concluded my day at the Incident Command Center with Sheriff Gee listening to the latest operations briefs from the different sectors. Overall, I came away impressed with the security operations in Tampa and gained some excellent insights into how large incidents can be handled effectively.

 Thanks Joe! Much appreciated.  

I will keep you posted on events throughout the day and into tonight