In Brief

The Super Bowl's Defensive Stance

In Brief

By CSO Contributor

February 01, 2005 — CSO — "This is our premier event. We're on an international stage, so it's very important that the game come off and people not worry about security," says Milton Ahlerich, senior vice president of security for the National Football League. On Feb. 6, Ahlerich will welcome close to 80,000 spectators to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. He says that many of the security measures employed at this year's Super Bowl may be familiar to game-goers.

But the Super Bowl, being much more than a regular NFL game, requires supersized security, with a budget to match. To provide a safe Super Bowl, the NFL, the host city and the federal government contribute money for securityupward of $10 million this year, with the NFL footing more than half of the bill. Also, the security perimeter is wider than for typical NFL games, and a 300-foot barricade is built. In addition, temporary flight restrictions, which apply to all NFL games, are extended.

The chief burden for security is borne by the host city's police department. This year, the Jacksonville sheriff's office will carry out the security plan that the agencies involved put together.

Ahlerich would not say that the event is considered a terrorist target, but he did say that the NFL was "not going to take any chances." To that end, host stadiums are required to have state-of-the-art video surveillance cameras in and around the stadium. At the time of this interview, Ahlerich had recently reviewed the upgraded system in Jacksonville, which does not include biometrics. Biometrics was tested outside the stadium by the Tampa police for the Super Bowl in 2001, but it was deemed to be not yet mature enough. And it wasn't too popular with the fans.

Nontraditional guest accommodations provide an unusual security issue for this year's Super Bowl. Due to a shortage of hotels in the area, five cruise ships will be used as temporary floating hotels, providing about 3,600 rooms. Guests will be screened when they enter or leave their ships.