Security Stepped Up in Miami for Super Bowl Week

MIAMI -- Every one knows the Super Bowl is one gigantic party. And since the 2001 terrorist attacks, law enforcement officials have faced a difficult challenge_allowing revelers to have their fun while making sure the event is safe.

While there has been no specific threat, increased security measures will be evident in South Florida this week as the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts prepare to face off in the Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium on Sunday.

Police won't be stationed on every corner, but thousands of law enforcement officials, both uniformed and plainclothes, will be out, representing more than 50 local, state and federal agencies. Those governments have spent millions of dollars on a security plan that includes high tech X-ray machines, robots and mobile bomb labs.

Bomb-sniffing dogs have begun making their rounds at the Miami Beach Convention Center and nearby hotels. Air Force fighter jets will zoom overhead during the game. And the nearly 75,000 fans expected to enter the stadium will be screened for everything from weapons to long camera lenses, which won't be allowed.

While officials said they are making every effort to ensure that no incidents occur, they stressed that no one wants fans to be prevented from having a good time.

"This is not the Super Bowl of security," said Milton Ahlerich, vice president of security for the National Football League. "We want to keep our fans safe but we don't want them to have to think about security."

The NFL has a $6 million Super Bowl security budget of its own, which is paying for additional personnel and procedures such as background checks for game-day workers. The NFL also has hired 3,000 civilian security personnel to work as backup to local officials.

The gates at Dolphin Stadium will open at 1 p.m CST, and the NFL is advising people to get there as early as possible in order to get through security checks, which include a full magnetomer scan and limited pat-downs. People will have to open their coats for further inspection, and large purses or bulky camera bags will be banned.

Unlike the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans, which was attended by President Bush, this year's game has not been designated a national security special event. Such designations are given to events that pose the highest risk, such as presidential inaugurations and state funerals and are coordinated by the Secret Service.

The Miami-Dade Police Department is largely responsible for coordinating security for Sunday's game, with substantial assistance from federal agencies such as the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"We look at the overall threat picture and make an assessment to determine the degree of federal involvement," said Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. "There are major public gatherings around the country all the time they are not major security events. The Super Bowl and the World Series haven't been for a while now."

This is the ninth Super Bowl that Miami authorities have provided security for, but it is the first since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Parker said plans are in place for every conceivable event, including the death of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, which could generate large public demonstrations.

"It is a very thought out and detailed plan," Parker said, without providing details.

Authorities have set up a command center at Dolphin Stadium to coordinate security. Boats have been banned in the Port of Miami-Dade this week. The stadium area has been designated as a no-fly zone on game day. Officials, however, said the stadium is not in the flight path of commercial planes.

Experts said tight security is something Americans just have to get used to.

"It used to be that we prepared for the general and had a contingency plan for the unexpected. Now, after 9/11, we prepare for the unlikely," said Alexander Weiss, director of the Center for Public Safety at Northwestern University.

"Things could change as time goes by, but right now officials are weighing the potential risk against inconvenience and it all comes down on the side of risk."

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(c) 2007, Chicago Tribune.

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