The NFL has adjusted its security plans and received additional law enforcement support for Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans following the deadly attack in the city on Jan. 1, chief security officer Cathy Lanier said Wednesday.
Lanier, who spearheads the league’s security planning and initiatives, declined to specify how many additional officers will be on hand at the Superdome next month, nor compare the law enforcement presence to previous Super Bowls or previous stages of planning. But the former D.C. police chief said the league did request and receive additional support following the Jan. 1 attack, in which a man drove a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, leaving 14 dead and dozens of others wounded.
‘It’s natural to ask if we’ve changed things since the attack on Jan. 1, and of course the short answer is yes,’ Lanier told reports on a conference call. ‘But I want to remind people, to be clear, that our planning and security is continually reviewed. We review, enhance and modify our security plans based on the latest information that we have. We’re constantly monitoring what’s going on in the environment and the security world to make those adjustments.’
Lanier noted that the Super Bowl is categorized as a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1 event by the Department of Homeland Security, which requires close coordination between state, local and federal law enforcement.
While declining to specify the number of law enforcement officers who will be on hand for the Super Bowl, and related NFL events in New Orleans, Lanier said it will be ‘thousands.’
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‘I think the biggest thing that you’ll see that’s different following the attack on Jan. 1 is just a lot more visible law enforcement presence, and more hardened security perimeters,’ Lanier said.
Super Bowl 59 festivities will kick off in New Orleans next week. The game itself, which will feature the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, is on Feb. 9.
The Super Bowl is coming to New Orleans for the first time since 2013 − and less than six weeks after the deadly attack on Jan. 1, when a Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, drove a truck into a crowded portion of the city’s iconic French Quarter. Jabbar, a Texas resident and Army veteran, later died in a shootout with police. Authorities later found an ISIS flag in the truck and investigated the attack as an act of terrorism.
Lanier flew to New Orleans shortly after the attack and conferred with state and local law enforcement officials about how to best revise the league’s security plans for the Super Bowl. She said those plans are continuously being revised and updated to account for security incidents that take place not just in New Orleans or the United States but around the world.
‘There have been no specific or credible threats that have come through for the Super Bowl, up to this point,’ Lanier added. ‘So we feel pretty good.’
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.