New Orleans Super Bowl gets beefed up security measures

New Orleans, Louisiana — 

After a New Year's Day onslaught struck astatine the bosom of the French Quarter, officials successful New Orleans accidental they are assured successful the information plans they person successful spot for the Super Bowl.

Upwards of 125,000 visitors are expected to converge connected the Big Easy opening Feb. 5 for parties, concerts and revelry featuring artists including Post Malone and Diplo and capped disconnected by the Feb. 9 clash betwixt the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles astatine the Caesars Superdome stadium to crown this season's NFL champion.

Following the truck-ramming onslaught aboriginal connected Jan. 1 that killed 14 radical and injured dozens much on Bourbon Street, 1 of the city's astir celebrated thoroughfares, alleged information lapses triggered aggregate lawsuits and investigations. But the city, the NFL and instrumentality enforcement officials importune that aft much than a twelvemonth of preparations they are acceptable to play host.

“We’re going supra and beyond what we’ve seen successful the past erstwhile we’ve hosted previously,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said astatine a quality conference. “We cognize we’re safer than we’ve ever been before.”

What volition the information beingness look like?

Thousands of state, national and section instrumentality enforcement officers volition beryllium connected the crushed during the Super Bowl, NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier said. But she and metropolis officials remained tight-lipped astir details.

Drones volition beryllium prohibited astir the Superdome and downtown New Orleans passim the week of the crippled and determination volition beryllium formation restrictions up to 18,000 feet (5,486 meters), according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Armed national aerial marshals volition beryllium stationed astir the city's proscription hubs scanning for suspicious radical oregon activities and guarding against drones, said Noel Curtin, supervisory aerial marshal successful complaint with the Transportation Security Administration.

Super Bowl events volition sprawl crossed neighborhoods acold beyond the stadium, said the Homeland Security Department's Eric DeLaune, who is starring national coordination of Super Bowl security.

Federal agencies from the FBI to the Secret Service are bringing successful rooftop snipers and BearCat armored SWAT vehicles astir the stadium and crossed the city's historical French Quarter and downtown, DeLaune said.

No 1 volition beryllium allowed wrong the cordoned-off country surrounding the Superdome without credentials, and the metropolis already has begun shutting down and limiting postulation connected roads adjacent the stadium, wherever the perimeter volition see blast barriers requiring trucks to walk done elephantine X-ray machines typically utilized astatine borderline crossings, DeLaune said.

Dozens of technicians and much than 100 bomb-sniffing dogs are engaging successful a days-long effort to scour the 37,161 quadrate meters (400,000 quadrate feet) of the Superdome and each of its much than 70,000 seats anterior to crippled day, DeLaune said.

“They’re going to spell from apical to bottommost connected that gathering to marque definite it’s wide and it’s safe. They unfastened each door, cheque nether each seat,” DeLaune said.

How the New Year's Day onslaught has changed information plans

Multiple lawsuits person claimed metropolis authorities were alert of Bourbon Street's vulnerabilities to the benignant of truck-ramming onslaught that the Islamic State group-inspired Shamsud-Din Jabbar carried out. He drove his F-150 astir a constabulary car parked arsenic a makeshift barricade and plowed into pedestrians earlier helium crashed and was killed by police.

The bollard strategy of alloy columns installed to artifact conveyance traffic, which was being replaced astatine the entranceway to Bourbon Street astatine the clip of the attack, remains connected way for completion earlier the Super Bowl, officials said.

Authorities accidental they person brought successful much types of carnal barriers to support introduction points resulting from concerns that the caller bollard strategy was not beardown capable to artifact conveyance attacks.

The NFL and national and metropolis agencies person “put a caller acceptable of eyes” connected their plans post-Jan. 1, DeLaune said, noting the New Orleans Police Department hired erstwhile New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton and his squad from high-profile information steadfast Teneo.

“No circumstantial oregon credible threats” person surfaced targeting the Super Bowl, NFL information main Lanier said Wednesday.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced the instauration of an “enhanced information zone” on Bourbon Street to bookend Super Bowl play and said helium would deploy 350 nationalist guardsmen.

After authorities recovered Jabbar had planted crystal chests containing undetonated improvised explosive devices astir the French Quarter, Landry declared a prohibition connected coolers and crystal chests successful these areas and ordered mandatory searches of bags for anyone entering Bourbon Street portion during the Super Bowl weekend.

But successful accordance with authorities law, firearms including permitless concealed transportation guns volition beryllium allowed connected Bourbon Street, Louisiana State Police Sgt. Katharine Stegall said, noting they remained banned from bars.

AI and mobile apps volition play information role

The Superdome’s owner, ASM Global, has contracted New York-based artificial quality steadfast Dataminr to show imaginable and emerging threats successful existent time.

The institution volition gully from implicit 1 cardinal sources of nationalist information crossed 150 languages, from societal media to acheronian web forums to postulation cameras, Dataminr Chief Security Officer Robert Crowley said.

“It’s stitching unneurotic each these small pieces of the puzzle to get a holistic, broad presumption of what has conscionable happened,” Crowley said. “The faster you cognize what is occurring, the quicker you tin instrumentality amended action.”