News & Information

Super Bowl Security Requires Collaboration from Many Agencies

Major sporting events are attractive targets to terrorists due to the large numbers of people congregated in the area and the high amount of media coverage surrounding the event.

Careful coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies help to keep athletes as well as spectators safe. The upcoming Super Bowl XLIV between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts at Miami Sun Life Stadium will be a joint security effort that will include 64 different agencies, more than 1000 officers, and a whole range of hardware from armored vehicles, to bomb dogs and radiation sniffers.

Explosives are the biggest potential threat to the game. To protect against that threat, dozens of canine teams will sweep the stadium with ATF bomb techs and robots on high alert. The most difficult to protect against is the “lone wolf”; an individual carrying a small, concealed bomb; however, officials are confident that they are prepared.

While there is no credible threat to the Super Bowl, preparedness is crucial to the safety and security of those attending the game.

Sources:
Super Bowl Security Ready for Anything
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/03/eveningnews/main6171509.shtml

Precipitating Terrorism Event:
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing on July 27, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 1996 Summer Olympics. The bombing was the first of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, former explosives expert for the United States Army. Rudolph planted a green U.S. military pack containing three pipe bombs surrounded by nails underneath a bench near the base of a concert sound tower. It was the largest pipe bomb in U.S. history, weighing in excess of 40 pounds. Two people died as a result of the attack, and 111 were injured.

Prevention Relevance:
Terrorism is often aimed towards highly visible targets such as major sporting events, fairs, festivals or places that attract large numbers of people and major media coverage.

Prevention Techniques:
Collaboration: A multi-layered security system that involves the collaboration of many agencies is needed to keep major sporting events safe from potential acts of terrorism.

Prevention Thought:
Risk Management: Are there major events, sporting or otherwise, in your area that could potentially be attractive targets to terrorists? If so, has your agency reviewed your plans and procedures at those venues to minimize vulnerability to an attack?

IPS Contact Information:
The Institute for Preventive Strategies is a national service of the Center for Rural Development, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Somerset Kentucky.

You may contact the Institute by e-mail at: info@preventivestrategies.net

You may correspond with the Institute at:

Institute for Preventive Strategies
2292 South Highway 27, Suite 300
Somerset, KY 42501

Telephone: 1-800-860-6657

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