New Orleans gears up for Super Bowl

13 April 2012

The Mayor of New Orleans claims that his city will be "the safest place in America" this weekend.

Let's hope he is right because there will be 73,000 fans inside the Louisiana Superdome for the 36th Super Bowl here on Sunday, plus 40,000 more who could not get in but are still in the area, 3,000 media people, and a supporting cast of Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Barry Manilow, Mary J Blige and U2.

Mayor Marc Morial's statement has the backing of the United States Secret Service, the FBI, the National Guard and local police and rescue services.

The Secret Service is in overall charge of security at one of the world's biggest sporting events, which is being broadcast to 166 countries with a television audience of 130 million in the United States and another 800 million around the world.

With the events of 11 September in New York, Washington and Pittsburgh still fresh in American minds, the Secret Service knows it cannot afford to overlook any possible threat.

President Bush has designated the Super Bowl a National Special Security Event, which puts it up there with a Presidential inauguration or an Olympic Games in terms of money spent and personnel allocated to make it safe.

Michael James, the local US Secret Service chief, reminded everyone: "We're at war. We will use every asset of the Federal Government that we have available."

He would not disclose specific numbers and details and the National Football League's vice-president of security, Milton E Ahlerich, when quizzed about how they would guard against an attack from the air, would only talk about a "substantial air security".

In previous years, when the Super Bowl has been held in open air stadiums, unlike the totally enclosed concrete dome here, part of the pre-game show has featured US Air Force jet bombers and fighters flying low over the arena.

Last year, in Tampa, a black "Stealth" bomber appeared over Raymond James Stadium before anyone heard it coming. This year, the Air Force will be up there again, on alert, but not playing to the crowd. A 'no-fly' zone will also be enforced on Sunday, although local FBI chief Kenneth Kaiser would not reveal how many miles the ban would extend.

Down on the ground, everyone entering the stadium will be screened via X-rays, metal detectors, physical searches and even face-recognition technology.

An eight-feet tall perimeter fence surrounds the Superdome. Armed officers will be everywhere. Secret Service man James said: "If any of my people have to pull weapons, we will have failed. We're putting in all this work in the hope of doing nothing."

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