Super Bowl's heightened security is readily evident in New Orleans ahead of big game
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NEW ORLEANS – Bourbon Street looks, sounds and feels no different than normal – people holding daiquiris and hurricanes between sips, music blaring out of every establishment, beads careening from balconies.
The National Guard and Army personnel every dozens of steps or so, along with the rifles they're holding, are a jumpcut back to reality – and a sobering reminder of the New Year's Day attack that left 14 people dead and wounded many more.
NFL chief of security Cathy Lanier said during a news conference Monday her team's job is to examine those events and make sure that the group is not only anticipatory but looking forward.
'We don't want to focus only on the last incident,' she said. 'We want to focus on being prepared.'
Security plans are fluid and capable of being changed on game day depending on the situation, Lanier added. The arrival of President Donald Trump on Sunday, making him the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl, will only induce a heightened security environment around Caesars Superdome.
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To begin with, the Super Bowl is categorized as a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1 event by the Department of Homeland Security, which requires close coordination between state, local and federal law enforcement. Lanier had declined to reveal the number of police officers assisting in keeping the city safe this week, but that it would be in 'the thousands.' Lanier told the Washington Post recently she made 'probably 10' visits to New Orleans to coordinate security.
Even before Super Bowl week began, the NFL and authorities promised a 'visible law enforcement' presence throughout the city. That has certainly been the case.
Accessing Bourbon Street, the security apparatus is immediately apparent. Anyone walking with a purse or bag has it searched at a checkpoint. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry created the security zone around and including Bourbon Street via an emergency order.
All types of barriers prevent vehicles from coming close to accessing the famous road of revelry, which was the site of tragedy in the early hours of Jan. 1.
In addition to the 14 killed, dozens were wounded in a truck attack on Bourbon Street that police say was perpetrated by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was fatally shot by police at the scene.
Jabbar rammed his truck onto the street that is pedestrian-only; varying types of barriers for blocks in all directions from Bourbon Street are now in place after bollards were not up prior to the attack. Two improvised explosive devices Jabbar had planted in coolers in the French Quarter did not detonate.
The Kansas City Chiefs' hotel is about 0.2 miles from the base of Bourbon Street on Canal Street. The amount of mobile command and law-enforcement satellite vehicles surrounding the Marriott is astounding.
Even Frenchmen Street, the live music and jazz epicenter of New Orleans, had an increased police presence and was closed to vehicles. Barriers also prevented access from any intersecting roads.
The Philadelphia Eagles' police escort Monday from practice in nearby Metaire, Louisiana, created a traffic standstill at the Warehouse District exit off Interstate-10. That same day, a pair of military jets conducted training maneuvers over downtown a handful of times. A low-flying helicopter hummed over the city for most of the week.
Airspace has become an increasingly worrisome battleground for the NFL in recent years. Last week, a man was arrested for flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during a Baltimore Ravens' home playoff game that paused the proceedings. Organizers won't have to worry about that since Caesars Superdome is an enclosed venue, but the week operated under the second-highest rating in terms of airspace clearance. Drones throughout the downtown area were prohibited starting Monday. On game day, the restriction space is 30 nautical air miles, Lanier said.
On the ground – on Bourbon Street, the French Quarter and the rest of downtown – the good times have rolled all week. But throwing a party in the shadows of rifles and snipers on rooftops became reality for New Orleans, the NFL and Super Bowl 59 after Jan. 1.
Contributing: Tom Schad
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