Cleveland Makes Final Preparations Ahead of GOP Convention

Around 400 police officers from other departments were among those sworn in in Cleveland Saturday ahead of the Republican National Convention, as one of the first protests was held downtown before the possibly contentious event.

A small protest involving members of the New Blank Panther Party was held downtown Saturday afternoon. Organizers said the demonstration was against police brutality and GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

The group of between 40 to 50 protesters was outnumbered by police during the march, which at one point blocked traffic.

Most of the 400 temporary police officers sworn in during a ceremony Saturday are from police departments California and the rest are from Pittsburgh. The temporary police officers will have power to make arrests in Cleveland.

The city was putting the finishing touches on fencing and other security measures Saturday ahead of the convention, which could draw large protests. Police said they are ready for the expected crowds and expected protests. More than 170 permits for demonstrations have been issued.

Ohio law allows people to carry firearms in the open. Guns will be allowed in the event area, but not inside a secure area where the convention will be held. The Secret Service is managing security inside the secure area. No guns were seen at the protest Saturday.

"We’re ready to go,” Cleveland police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said. Around 5,000 law enforcement officers are expected to be on hand during the convention. The convention starts Monday.

Phil Helsel

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

Jacob Rascon

Jacob Rascon is an NBC correspondent based in Dallas. He reports for all NBC News platforms including NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, the Today Show and NBCNews.com.

Rascon joined NBC from KNBC in Los Angeles in the summer of 2014. Since that time, he has led the network's coverage of the largest wildfire in Washington state history, the crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo over the Mojave desert and deadly tornadoes in Mississippi. He reported from Havana immediately following the announcement that the United States would resume diplomatic relations with Cuba after fifty years.

At KNBC, he helped lead the station's coverage of devastating California wildfires, mudslides and floods, the LAX shooting rampage, the manhunt for ex-LAPD fugitive Christopher Dorner and the Huntington Beach riots.

Prior to KNBC, Rascon worked at KFOX in El Paso, helping lead the station's coverage of devastating Texas wildfires, floods and ice storms, and illegal immigration, cartel violence and border politics.

Prior to KFOX, Rascon worked with ABC News in the Middle East during the Arab Spring, standing among more than one million Egyptians as they demanded the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, then Egypt's president.

He also worked at the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper in Salt Lake City, Utah and KBYI radio in Rexburg, Idaho, and even and reported out of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Rascon lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and three children.