DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION 2004

CRA, Inc. conducted an exercise series for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States Secret Service in the winter, spring and summer of 2004 in preparation of the Democratic National Convention in Boston – a designated National Special Security Event (NSSE). The exercise series consisted of three separate exercises; a senior leader seminar (SLS), a tabletop exercise (TTX), and a functional exercise (FE).

During the SLS, senior level public safety officials from federal, state, local and private sector agencies participated in a scenario-driven discussion of their specific plans, policies and procedures. This facilitated discussion afforded the senior leadership the opportunity to share their plans and to determine the impact on each agency.

During the TTX, operations level management personnel were taken through an enhanced version of the scenario presented earlier to their senior leaders during the SLS. Throughout the course of this exercise participants were provided the opportunity to discuss the operational details of executing their DNC-specific plans, policies and procedures. In some cases the discussions identified the need for changes, and surfaced other issues that needed to be addressed.

During the FE for the DNC, 18 operational command and communication centers were staffed by representatives from federal, state, local and private sector agency personnel. Over the course of this exercise, players dealt with a number of significant critical incidents which required coordination and sharing of intelligence information, shared resources, and the response to attacks against their respective conventions.

The DHS/ODP, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the other agencies served by this exercise were very pleased with this exercise series. CRA-USA, on behalf of the DHS/ODP, similarly supported the Republican National Convention in New York City.