National Special Security Events (NSSEs), especially national political conventions, pose unique planning and operational challenges. Due to their high-profile nature (i.e., political, economic, social, or religious nature) and the large number of attendees, national conventions have the po-tential to adversely impact public safety and security. Though many conventions have occurred, detailed documentation to guide local law enforcement on planning and operational best practices is sparse. In order to address this gap and in response to requests from law enforcement leaders, the U.S. Department of Justices Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) worked in partnership with the CNA Corporation to provide technical assistance and support to local law enforcement security opera-tions prior to and during the 2012 national conventions. The primary goal of the technical assis-tance was to develop an after-action report (AAR) that documents key findings of the overall security planning and operations. CNA analysts deployed to Charlotte, North Carolina to support the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Departments (CMPD) public safety and security operations for the 2012 Democratic National Convention (DNC) from Sunday, September 2 through Thurs-day, September 6, 2012.