Sixty law enforcement agencies have been contacted to supply extra officers to help secure the Republican National Convention in Tampa from August 27-31, according to an article from Tampa Bay Online.
At least 3,500 extra officers are needed by the Tampa Police Department to safeguard the city during the convention.
Even the police department for the small town of Waldo was contacted to send whoever they can spare, which, in a department of eight sworn officers for a town of 800, might only be two or three officers, the article says.
Some agencies have already signed and returned their mutual aid agreements, the article says. Tampa expects to have all the finalized legal documents by next month.
The different agencies were asked to send officers "suited to the task by experience, temperament and disciplinary history."
Visiting officers will stay in local hotels and receive three meals a day while they work the convention. They will all wear lightweight, khaki-colored cotton uniforms designed to keep officers cool in the hot and humid weather of Florida in August, the article says.
The money for the rooms, food, uniforms, training and equipment comes from a $50 million federal fund from Congress created to reimburse Tampa for security-related expenses. Roughly half of that is paying for the officers, Tampa Bay Online reports.
The article also says that the city is planning on buying liability insurance that covers up to $10 million.