Following recent violence, Cleveland on high alert for RNC

CELEVELAND, Ohio (WPVI) -- No doubt the Baton Rouge shooting Sunday morning has raised the tension level for Cleveland police ahead of the Republican National Convention.

For months, the focus of law enforcement has been on the prospects of organized protests - anti-Trumpers trying to disrupt the convention and Trump supporters exhibiting some of the rough edges that they have at rallies.

Add to that the fact that Ohio is an open carry state, which means that protesters can bring and show their guns, which makes it that much harder for police to spot and react to potential trouble, the shooting kind.

But when you talk to police and other law enforcement, the worry isn't just about violent protests, even in the open carry environment. The worry is also about terrorism.

Cleveland is proud of its burgeoning restaurant scene downtown, just blocks from the Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the convention.

But as we've seen in Paris, restaurants make vulnerable soft targets.

"Certainly it's crossed our mind, but I got to tell you the amount of security we've seen and the amount of police presence has been phenomenal," said Mark Azzaro of Newtown, Pennsylvania.

East 4th Street aka Restaurant Row will be packed with pedestrians and convention goers this week.

And yes, both police and civilians are aware that what happened in Nice, France, must not be allowed to happen in Ohio. That's why they have barriers all over the secure section of the city, to stop trucks in their tracks.

In fact, every vehicle that comes anywhere near that part of town undergoes an extreme going over by the Secret Service.

Jack Tomarchio is a former deputy director of Homeland Security. We asked him how law enforcement is making sure a terrorist can't get throgh.

"One of the things they're doing is monitoring social media, and the Secret Service, the Bureau, both have scores of officers and analyst looking at various social media sites," said Tomarchio. "Looking for any inclination that somebody there may want to become operational."

But as we have seen, repeatedly and tragically, no strategy is foolproof, not even close.

We saw that in Dallas, and yet again Sunday in Baton Rouge.