BOSTON -- There are only two weeks to go before delegates arrive for the Democratic National Convention.

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Kelley Tuthill Reports On DNC

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NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported Monday that police are gearing up for the arrival of thousands of protesters. Most will peacefully express their points of view, but others may be more interested in disruption than discussion.

Protesters, police and political conventions can often be a messy mix.

"The protesters will try and get police officers to overreact," said former Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney.

Timoney said that extensive planning lead up to the 2000 Republican Convention.

"The training of police officers, impressing upon them to the notion of trying to control their emotions, that they would be subjected to verbal taunts," Timoney said.

Timoney also put himself and his officers on bicycles -- instead of using riot gear and horses. Still, that city saw vandalism, blocked streets and clashes between protestors and police.

"There were about 2,000 of the so-called anarchists who were hell bent on chaos, property damage and assaulting police officers," Timoney said.

Anarchists are also expected in Boston. Groups like the Black Tea Society plan to protest the two-party system.

"They have a free-speech zone, where only 1,000 people are allowed. They say that's free speech when you have to go through cops to speak freely. You have to commit to searches, and only 1,000 can gather and that's so-called free speech," one Black Tea Society member said.

"Our position is that anyone can demonstrate peacefully on any street in the city except those areas that are in the secure area," DNC Incident Command Superintendent James Claiborne said.

Claiborne said that Boston has spent 18 months preparing for the DNC. He said that dealing with protestors will not affect the police's ability to stay on top of terrorist threats.

Claiborne admits concerns about terrorism have dominated planning for this first post-9/11 convention. But he denies protestors compromise their ability to deal with terrorist threats.