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The New Year’s Eve terrorist attack in New Orleans happened a few weeks before the city hosts another Super Bowl. Unsurprisingly, the incident will prompt even more security at the nation’s most secure annual event.
Via ESPN.com’s Tisha Thompson, both the NFL and the feds did increasing effort ahead of Super Bowl LIX, which takes place on February 9.
“I would like to say that it doesn’t change much in our security planning, but it does change things,” NFL head of security Cathy Lanier told Thompson. “Are we doing something different? Of course.”
There will be an increased police presence, as usual during Super Bowl week, including SWAT team members, armored vehicles, agents on rooftops, surveillance drones and more security cameras.
The goal, the federal official leading the coordination told Thompson, is to make sure people can’t “walk a city block in downtown New Orleans without running into at least one law enforcement officer.”
From a security standpoint, that’s good. At what point, however, does the constant presence of police and military machinery make people feel less at ease?
Yes, we want people to be safe. But we also shouldn’t want them to feel like a state of emergency has been imposed.
However, when in doubt, it’s better to tip the scales towards the feel of a full-scale military state.
