In a supplemental budget request, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher is expected to ask for considerable funding to pay for security during the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Fletcher, who narrowly won re-election in 2006,  expects to arrest between 3,000 and 5,000 protesters during the GOP’s presidential nominating convention in September 2008.  According to a source close to the policy-making process in St. Paul, the unconfirmed amount of $4,432,804 includes more than $550,000 to possibly build a fenced outdoor detention facility for  protesters.  According to Dave Verhasselt, spokesman for Ramsey County Manager David Twa, the St. Paul Police generally have jurisdiction over arrests and the sheriff over jailing once arrests are made.

Verhasselt, who could not cite specific numbers but indicated a request “between $3 and $4 million,” also said that discussion of arrest numbers at this point is purely speculative.

Protesters are a part of every large political convention, and the scope of Fletcher’s projection seems to split the difference between recent examples.  In 2004, six protesters were arrested at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, while approximately 10,000 were arrested during the Republican National Convention in New York City.  According to sources close to the budget process, however, the St. Paul Police Department has already begun working with groups interested in expressing peaceful opposition to the RNC, and Fletcher’s request appears, on its surface, to conflict with that process.

Sheriff Fletcher has been asked for comment, and Minnesota Monitor will continue coverage as more information becomes available.