Security officials confident in Super Bowl plans

Security officials safeguarding Super Bowl 48, mindful of the deadly attacks in Russia ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics, say they are nevertheless confident they are ready for Sunday’s big game. Officials said attacks similar to last month's suicide strikes on mass transit sites in the Russian city of Volgograd were of particular concern, given that tens of thousands of fans will travel to MetLife Stadium, just west of New York, by train or bus. But the massive contingent of security personnel that will be on hand are prepared and confident the day will unfold without a hitch, they said. "At this time, there are no threats against this event that we are aware of," said New York Police Department commissioner William Bratton. "We are keeping our eyes on what is going on overseas." A total of 34 people were killed in Volgograd in attacks on a train station and a packed trolleybus in late December, raising security alarms ahead of the upcoming Winter Games. More than 50,000 of the 80,000 spectators expected to watch the Seattle Seahawks battle the Denver Broncos for the National Football League championship on Sunday will use public transport to get to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. "That is a concern with mass transit. We have prepared ourselves for it," said New Jersey state police superintendent Rick Fuentes. "Vehicles are going to be checked and swept. That includes trains, buses and cars. I can assure you those safeguards will be in place. "People are going to some extent be pre-checked and the trains they are getting onto will be pre-checked." In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, the Big Apple strengthened its police and security apparatus. The city's expertise in protecting everything from summits of world leaders at the United Nations to massive crowds in Times Square on New Year's Eve is definitely a plus for Super Bowl weekend, officials say. "There is a lot of counter-terrorism experience here," US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told reporters. "I take a lot of comfort from that." Bratton said much of the preparation work in security exercises was aimed at "lone wolf" threats, with the memory of the deadly Boston Marathon bombings in April last year fresh in everyone's mind. "We are prepared and ready for that," Bratton said. "We are very well prepared." The NFL has hired more than 4,000 private security personnel to work with a massive law enforcement contingent representing 100 agencies that have been preparing for three years for Sunday's game. Warming pavilions and tents will ensure security equipment such as metal detectors are not affected even if severe cold or snow hits the first outdoor cold-weather Super Bowl ever staged. And they have worked to ensure no repeat of the shock blackout that hit last year's Super Bowl in New Orleans, where a power outage was caused by a faulty electrical relay. This time, back-up systems are in place. "This year we are going to try to go blackout-free," said NFL chief security officer Jeff Miller. "We are going into it prepared for anything we might have to address." That includes federal help in preventing cyber-attacks from shutting down the power grid or causing other troubles. "That does go into our considerations here," Johnson said. So do possible bio-terrorism or nuclear threats, which George Venizelos -- assistant director of the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) -- watches over. "We worry about that all year," Venizelos said. "We have detection devices throughout the city. We have people trained for it. We train for this. We have the ability to deal with it." He would not address stadium details except to note, "There's a lot going on behind the scenes." A joint operating center with 35 agencies is located in New Jersey to deal with masterminding the security effort, with some procedures having been tested during 16 NFL home games of the New York Jets and Giants at MetLife Stadium. "Just like the Broncos and Seahawks, we have been practicing all year and we are ready for this event," said Newark FBI special agent in charge Aaron Ford. The Super Bowl Boulevard fan-fest area on Broadway at Times Square will not have checkpoints but will have a huge police presence, including uniformed, plainclothes and canine units as well as camera technology already in place. And all officials agreed the public acting as eyes and ears for anything suspicious will be a vital part of the security effort. "If you see something, say something," Venizelos said. "That's real." Source: AFP