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Super security for Super Bowl Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic Nov. 11, 2007 12:00 AM Super Bowl XLII public-safety officials are purposely vague about how many people will be working to prevent a terrorist attack or other major incidents at the Valley's Feb. 3 super event. But don't expect gun-totting soldiers standing near Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium. "The last thing we want at Super Bowl is shock troops standing on the corner," said Adam Angst, an FBI special agent who is coordinating the public safety for the NFL championship. A 16-month planning effort was outlined Thursday at the Arizona Tourism Safety and Security Conference in Scottsdale. Plans involve 40 police chiefs, Valley fire departments, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA will have its emergency resources ready if the agency is needed. Law enforcement will have a presence in Glendale and throughout the Valley when Super Bowl events are staged. Much of the public-safety effort will go on behind the scenes and is aimed at preventing any disruption before it happens, Angst said. Officials would not reveal how many people are involved in security because that could be useful to terrorists, they said. They did say it will include about two dozen public-safety work groups assigned to protect dignitaries, provide police escorts and issue credentials to as many as 35,000 vendors. Other groups are ready to deal with traffic, hazardous materials, bombs, intelligence and marshaling police helicopters. "The FBI has a counterterrorism role in this," Angst said. "The Super Bowl could be a terrorist target and we need to protect it from that." 150,000 visitors expected Public safety is a huge undertaking for the Super Bowl, with about 70,000 football fans attending the football game and up to 150,000 people in town for a week of related events. Fans will enter a secure 300-foot perimeter around the stadium and must pass through metal detectors, said Brady Castro, Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee vice president of operations. "It's like getting into the airport," he said. Staging the Super Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium presents some unique challenges, Castro said. Glendale is relatively new to hosting major events, and rapid development near the facility keeps changing the area's landscape, he said. "We are preparing for any incidents and we're ready," he said. He said he has confidence in the unified public-safety team in place for the coming Super Bowl. That includes Tom Shannon, Glendale Fire Department assistant chief, and Scott Krushak, Phoenix Fire Department deputy chief. Scouted past Super Bowls Shannon said members of the public-safety team have attended the last three Super Bowls to see how other cities stage the event, but have not even seen the games because they were observing the public-safety operations. "This planning is not about a football game," Shannon said. "The Super Bowl itself is sort of anticlimactic for us." Phoenix Deputy Chief Krushak said the unified command in place for the Super Bowl is similar to the coordinated emergency response that took place last month during the California wildfires. He assisted FEMA in the evacuations, which he called the largest in U.S. history, involving more than 1 million people. "That validated our process," Krushak said. The Super Bowl public-safety team tested its procedures at last year's Fiesta Bowl and BCS championship game and will do another test run during the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. "I think it's going to work," Krushak said. "The citizens will be safe." -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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