Security
The Dallas Police Department, under Police Chief Billy Prince, was charged with providing security for the convention, including that of the delegates and President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush. Security planning, preparations and training for the event began in the police department a year in advance of the convention. President Reagan and Vice President Bush were scheduled to be housed in separate towers of the Anatole Hotel complex near downtown. Key commanders of the security plan included:
- Convention Security Commander - Assistant Chief Leslie Sweet
- Field Operations Commander - Deputy Chief William Newman
- Headquarters Hotel Commander - Captain Doug Sword
- Intelligence Commander - Captain Greg Holliday
- Convention Center Commander - Captain Dwight Walker
- Detention Services Commander - Captain Frank Hearron
- Dignitary Protection Commander - Captain John Holt
- Traffic Control Commander - Captain T.D. Tolleson
- Demonstration Management Commander - Captain Ray Hawkins
- Support Services Commander - Captain John Squier
- Presidential Hotel Response Team Commander - Lieutenant Rick Stone
The only incident of any consequence to occur during the convention was when the so-called Yippies made their last headlines. On Wednesday, August 22, 1984, a group of protesters calling itself the "Corporate War Chest Tour" conducted a minor theft and vandalism spree against businesses in downtown Dallas. Under the security plan, various police response teams were mobilized consisting primarily of the Demonstration Management teams under the command of Captain Hawkins and the Presidential Hotel Response Teams, commanded by Lieutenant Stone, which were held in reserve on the eastern perimeter of downtown. Dozens of protesters were peacefully arrested including, Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade member Gregory Lee Johnson, who burned a U.S. flag, which had been stolen from a flagpole in front of a downtown building. Johnson was charged with Desecration of Venerated Object, a misdemeanor violation of the Texas Penal Code. He was later convicted and his conviction was upheld at the state level. Johnson appealed the conviction to the federal courts, arguing that burning the flag was protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The case of Texas v. Johnson was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled on June 21, 1989 in Johnson's favor and invalidated flag desecration statutes throughout the country. The remains of the charred flag were gathered by a civil servant, Daniel E. Walker of Fort Worth, who buried them according to military protocol in his backyard.
| Preceded by 1980 Detroit, Michigan |
Republican National Conventions | Succeeded by 1988 New Orleans, Louisiana |
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Read more about this topic: 1984 Republican National Convention
Famous quotes containing the word security:
“We now in the United States have more security guards for the rich than we have police services for the poor districts. If you’re looking for personal security, far better to move to the suburbs than to pay taxes in New York.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation, are,—1. Security to possessors; 2. Facility to acquirers; and, 3. Hope to all.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
“The most disgusting cad in the world is the man who, on grounds of decorum and morality, avoids the game of love. He is one who puts his own ease and security above the most laudable of philanthropies.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)