Secret Service says Milwaukee DNC goal is "maximum security" and "minimum impact"

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Secret Service said their goal for the DNC is maximum security with a minimum impact.

The agency met with several others who are part of the "2020 DNC National Special Security Event Executive Steering Committee" at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee Wednesday, to give an update on their security plan.

Secret Service DNC Coordinator Robert Pasci said they are in the early stages of planning, but there is a reason they started the process 14 months before the event.

"This is a major event," Pasci said. "Make no mistake about it. This is a national special security event. It's something that occurs every four years."

FEMA, the Wisconsin National Air Guard, Wisconsin State Police, U.S. Capitol Police, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office and Milwaukee Police are all crafting the security plan.

MPD says officers are trained on the Incident Command System, which allows different levels of law enforcement to communicate.

"It's used for natural disasters, or events such as the DNC," Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said. "We train, and we plan off of the ICS system. Here's an opportunity where we would actually put it into effect."

The large committee that met Wednesday is broken down into 27 subcommittees.

Secret service gave an example of one them - transportation.

"The transportation subcommittee would be focused on the routes, the road closures in the city," Secret Service Resident Agent in Charge Cary Dyer said. "How do we get delegates from point a to point b. If they want to leave, if they want to come here, if they're, you know, in a hotel down south and they want to come up."

Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas says his agency won't shoulder as much as MPD, but all groups involved will play a role. 

"All the other partners are going to bring assets and resources here to the city of Milwaukee to help make sure that we make this event very successful," Lucas said.

Local leaders had been saying the physical security zone perimeter would be announced by January, but agent Pasci said Wednesday it could take longer.