That was recently the case when the San Francisco Giants came south to battle the Anaheim Angels in the World Series, which had an economic impact of $35 million to $40 million related to Anaheim�s four World Series games. 

The Hilton Anaheim, headquarters for the Giants, worked with Major League Baseball and the 400-member Anaheim Police Department to provide on-site police presence during the World Series, according to Dan Marweg, director of security at the hotel. 

�It showed the level of partnership between the hospitality industry and the city,� Marweg said. 

That partnership will be tested again in August when Anaheim hosts USA Gymnastics, with athletes visiting from 82 countries. The Anaheim Police Department already has designated a team to work out security for the event. 

The World Series and yearly National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I regional basketball tournament in Anaheim provide some insights, but police also have been looking at what other cities do in similar situations. 

They don�t have far to look. 

Southern California has been a hotbed of activity for such events in the past year, with Los Angeles home to the National Basketball Association and Women�s National Basketball Association finals, and San Diego set to host National Football League�s Super Bowl, not to mention the Angels. 

And Los Angeles and San Diego have hosted major political conventions. 

These events are among the highest-profile events in the country. 

But recent protests against World Trade Organization meetings and some biomedical meetings have officials readying for any contingency. 

�Security is an absolute priority for meeting planners today,� said David Kushner, chief executive of the Professional Con-vention Management Association. 

That gives cities such as Anaheim a leg up in bringing business to town. 

According to U.S. Justice Department data, Anaheim is the safest city to visit among all cities with a population of 250,000 to 500,000. 

And it�s one of a handful of cities with a tourist-oriented police team�San Diego, Las Vegas and Honolulu are others. 

Garden Grove has two uniformed officers whose main duty is to patrol the burgeoning tourist area around Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue. 

�We do a lot of liaison with the hotels,� said officer and team member Carey Daus. Daus said Garden Grove�s tourist police also assist in maintaining order during labor protests or disputes around the tourist businesses. 

The new Marriott Suites in Garden Grove provides a small office where the duo can do paperwork or follow-ups during their patrols. 

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Police Department has 16 officers, detectives and supervisors assigned to its tourist policing team that was launched in 1993. It also maintains a resort district police service center, a substation at Downtown Disney and volunteer ambassador program that provides outreach services to tourists. 

It�s big stakes for OC. There are 40 million people who visit Orange County each year and spend more than $6 billion. And the county has about 100,000 tourism-related jobs. 

Area hoteliers have regular monthly meetings with the Anaheim Police Department to address problems. 

Hoteliers also have access to a crime alert network that notifies area hotels and attractions of current concerns and problems. 

On March 6, the Southern California Tourism Safety & Security Association, Anaheim Police Department, Anaheim/ Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau and the Anaheim Hotel and Motel Association will host the third annual safety and security conference at the Hilton Anaheim. 

Last year�s conference drew 336 participants, more than double the number from a year earlier. 

The conference�targeted to executives and workers of tourist-serving businesses�includes sessions on crisis management, security for high-profile events and marketing tourism safety. 
 
 

Sandi Cain is copy editor and a staff reporter covering hospitality,tourism, travel and sports. Cain holds bachelor�s and master�s degrees in education from Kent State University in Ohio, where she majored in social studies. A former high school teacher, she has written for niche-market sports publications in the U.S., England and Australia and formerly worked in both the printing and high-tech industries. A Cleveland, Ohio native, Cain hasbeen a resident of Laguna Beach since the late �70s. She enjoys travel, gardening, reading and spoiling her three cats.