Santa Clara, California – Circling Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Wednesday at an altitude of 500 feet, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter provided a bird’s eye view for the thousands of first responders securing Super Bowl LX.
“Our main goal up here is just to make sure everybody’s safe,” the pilot told CBS News, adding that the focus is on monitoring “any type of threats, any kind of violent acts or suspicious activity going on.”
By being airborne, CBP can send live video back to their command centers on the ground, allowing responders to stay informed about the situation below.
Around the stadium, barricades are in place, bomb-sniffing dogs patrol the area, and everyone entering the stadium vicinity is screened at checkpoints. More than 35 local, state, and federal agencies have been collaborating for the past 18 months to prepare for game day.
At a news conference Tuesday, Cathy Lanier, the NFL’s chief security officer, confirmed that there are no known security threats at this time. “We’ve had no credible or specific threats whatsoever,” Lanier stated.
Lanier also clarified that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would not be involved in Super Bowl operations. “There are no planned ICE or immigration enforcement operations scheduled around the Super Bowl or any related events,” she said.
Jeff Brannigan, Supervisory Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which, like ICE and CBP, falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told CBS News that the federal law enforcement presence at Super Bowl 60 is consistent with previous years.
When asked about DHS’s role, Brannigan confirmed, “DHS law enforcement at large is participating in supporting the Super Bowl. The focus of DHS law enforcement at the Super Bowl is safety and security.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/super-bowl-heightened-security-dozens-of-local-federal-agencies/