Roughly 45,000 people are expected to converge on the Twin Cities for the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center on the first four days of September. This tally includes just over 4,500 delegates and alternate delegates, approximately 15,000 media members and other invited guests. Of course there will also be thousands of uninvited guests gathering at various locations around the Twin Cities to mark the occasion of John McCain’s nomination in their own chosen manner.

The opening day of the convention, in particular, promises to be a logistical nightmare. There will be a parade sponsored by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War proceeding from the Capitol to Xcel center, which organizers expect to draw in excess of 50,000 people. Meanwhile on Harriet Island, the Service Employees International Union will be hosting a huge Labor Day rally. Separate anti-RNC gatherings are slated for Triangle Park, Hamm’s Plaza, Mears Park and Ecolab Plaza, while Republicans will undoubtedly get a more sympathetic hearing from a downtown event being organized by Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission.

Probably the best advice is to get the hell out of town. But if that’s not an option, here’s the skinny on what to expect when the GOP comes to town.

How many cops will be patrolling the streets?

Approximately 3,000. According to an affidavit provided in an RNC-related lawsuit by Matt Bostrom, who is charged with overseeing security issues for the St. Paul Police Department (SPPD), roughly 600 local cops will be supplemented by an additional 2,500 officers from numerous federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies.

Exactly how many local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies will be involved?

The exact number is still uncertain, according to SPPD spokesman Tom Walsh. St. Paul is in the process of working out "joint powers agreements" with the various agencies. But in addition to cops from St. Paul and Minneapolis, there will be agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Secret Service (a division of the Treasury Department), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officers, Minnesota State Patrol officers, and cops from surrounding cities and counties.

Will there be any private contractors working on security issues?

Walsh says no, and what’s more he’s offended by the question: "To even remotely suggest or infer that we would involve ourselves with organizations that we can’t supervise is irresponsible."

Will there be temporary holding holding pens set up to detain protesters — as was done in New York four years ago?

Despite suspicions that Rice Park or Aldrich Arena are being reserved for detainees, the SPPD says it has no plans to use temporary holding facilities. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the county jail and would assume responsibility for people once they’ve been arrested, is mum on its plans. “They