TAMPA, Fla. — As thousands of Republican delegates travel to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention this week, recently retired Tampa Police Lieutenant Felicia Pecora reflects on security measures in place at the Tampa Convention Center back in 2012.
She can only imagine what local, state, and federal officials are now facing when it comes to security measures at the RNC mere days after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
"In the first days and weeks of a high-profile incident, there is a heightened risk for copycats," Pecora told us outside the Tampa Convention Center.
It was there that Pecora, an Army veteran, was serving as a bomb tech with the Tampa Police Department, part of the security team for the Republican National Convention in 2012, in which Mitt Romney secured the nomination.
"The RNC in 2012. It was at least two years in the making. Hundreds of people were involved. I was a bomb tech at the time," she said.
Pecora provided insight into the orchestrated plan to keep thousands at the highest political level safe.
"I served 23 years with the Tampa Police Department, that's five Presidents that came to the Tampa Bay area," she said. "And I didn't vote for them all, but all of us... there was never without fail, every one of us had the attitude of 'Not on my watch.'"
She said that technology, from X-ray machines to artificial intelligence, has improved since 2012.
"You won't see what you're not meant to see. You will not see the plain clothes and the undercover [officers] who are going to be on their toes, too. And that's the best part, one of the most crucial parts of a plan like this," she added.
And after an assassination attempt, she said those plans stay fluid.
"Security-wise, all plans are fluid, and after the assassination attempt, I'm sure there are some alterations," Pecora added. "We have some idea of what the threat might be, but then we discern, they discern new threats through new investigations and new avenues."
Pecora now uses her expertise to teach through the Doer Academy, where she is the founder. She helps businesses and those in the community learn the importance of situational awareness and how to prevent and train for a moment of crisis.
"Anytime you participate in a political process, there's a risk because somebody out there is always trying to silence the voice they don't want," she added.
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