Security stepped up because Sen. Obama’s historic candidacy is stoking extra concerns

Authorities have increased security at this year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver, where Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is poised to become the first black major-party presidential nominee.

Nearly 1,500 police officers from throughout Colorado will assist Denver police in securing the convention, along with the Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police and Colorado National Guard bomb control units.

{mosads}Two rows of chain-link or chicken-wire fencing are being placed near the convention site to keep protesters 200 yards away from delegates, and mailboxes near the Pepsi Center, which hosts most of the convention speeches, are being removed to prevent people from planting bombs or setting them on fire.

About 12,000 downtown Denver residents and businesses will have their mail delivered about an hour and a half earlier throughout the week due to the closing of several U.S. Postal Service branches and routes.

Authorities will take other extraordinary steps to tighten security Thursday night at Invesco Field, where Obama is following in the footsteps of President John F. Kennedy by accepting his party’s nomination in an open-air football stadium that seats 75,000.

Security forces said no specific threats to the convention or Obama have been identified, but acknowledge that the historic nature of Obama’s nomination is something that factors into their planning.

“That’s a consideration,” said Malcolm Wiley, a Secret Service spokesman. “But it’s a consideration as part of our overall security plan. It’s not something that we are focusing on, because no matter what the race of the candidate, the Secret Service still has a job to do.

“Certainly we understand the significance of it — that’s not lost on us as an agency, it’s just something that’s factored in as part of the overall plan,” Wiley said.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who helped persuade Obama to enter the presidential race starting in November 2006, said he remains concerned for Obama’s safety but is also confident in the Secret Service.

“I have a lot of faith in the Secret Service — they’ve done a great job and they make extraordinary efforts at every stop in the campaign and certainly they will in Denver,” Durbin said.

Durbin had helped get Obama protection from the agency back in May 2007, unusually early for a presidential candidate.

“I brought up the issue [in May 2007] because I was afraid for this young man. There were threats out there, and I wanted to take them seriously.”

Civil libertarian groups believe some of the security measures are going too far. As an example, they cite the chain-link fencing being placed near the center.

“We were told the reason for the distance and two rows of chain-link fencing is that a firearm fired from that distance is much less accurate,” said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

“I am very skeptical that there is any chance that somebody would bring a firearm within that area and attempt to shoot a delegate,” he said.

Potential gunmen are only a part of the equation the Secret Service said it took into consideration when suggesting the distance protesters should be kept from delegates.

“I’m not really able to go into other aspects, except [to say] we look at it from a bomb blast mitigation standpoint as well — that’s one other thing that I’ll provide,” Wiley said.

Protest group Recreate 68, named after the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, expects about 45,000 demonstrators “ who are tired of being sold out by the Democratic Party” to march during the opening day of the convention. The group says its actions will be peaceful, but it appears to have struck a nerve with some Denver authorities.

Frank Gale, a spokesman for the Denver Sheriff’s Department, said authorities aren’t anticipating major arrests, even though “we’re hearing from organizations, like Recreate 68, that they’re coming to deliberately be arrested.”

He said authorities don’t know how many people are in such groups, or how many of those coming will deliberately try to be arrested.

Mark Cohen, a spokesman for Recreate 68, strongly objected to Gale’s assertion that protesters will try to get arrested, and said the group hopes for a non-violent and respectful week’s worth of demonstration.

“We have no intention or plans [of] getting arrested,” Cohen said. “We’ve seen the facility where they’re planning to hold us if we get arrested. We don’t want to wind up in there.”

A temporary jail facility, consisting of chain-link cells with razor-wire around the open-air tops, has been set up in the city to house demonstrators who are arrested.

Denver was given a $50 million grant by the Department of Justice to assist with convention security. It has spent more than $2 million on protection equipment for officers and more than $1 million for barricades so far.

Despite officials’ concerns, security forces are optimistic that demonstrators will be mindful of the security regulations and conduct themselves in a way that results in few to no arrests throughout the week.

“Our concern is that people won’t respect the laws or rules, but I think most of these people realize a lot of times they lose their message by civil disobedience, so we’re hoping that everyone comes in and enjoys themselves,” said Sonny Jackson, spokesman for the Denver Police Department. “We’ve met with a lot of the protesting groups and explained to them what we can and can’t accept and they’ve voiced what their intentions are.”

Demonstrators and civil rights advocates lost a fight with the government earlier this month after trying to get the public protest area moved closer to where the delegates are planning to enter and exit the Pepsi Center.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled that security concerns outweighed the need for groups to get closer to delegates.