Thursday, March 28, 2024
Feature/Profile

US Homeland Security, state and local officials  work to secure Super Bowl amid rumours of Trucker protest

Image: Google Maps

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas traveled this week to Los Angeles to meet with state and local law enforcement and the National Football League (NFL) to review Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operations to help ensure the safety and security of employees, players, and fans during Super Bowl LVI, according to a posting to the DHS website on February 9th.

US officials are paying close attention to the Trucker protests across Canada at border crossing and in Ottawa. Rumours that the Super Bowl may be disrupted by protesting Truckers have circulated on social media all week.

Road Warrior News has a correspondent driving in Los Angelos and will post news and updates throughout the day. The DHS website reads:

“The Department of Homeland Security is fundamentally a department of partnerships, and those partnerships are critical to ensuring the safety and security of Super Bowl operations as well as that of the surrounding community,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Our dedicated DHS workforce is working collaboratively alongside our federal, state, and local partners to provide operational and technical support to the NFL, City of Inglewood, and State of California to keep this national event safe. Just like the game itself, vigilance is a team effort, so please remember: if you see something, say something.”

DHS support for Super Bowl LVI includes more than 500 DHS personnel providing extensive air and maritime security resources; anti-human trafficking prevention and enforcement support; intellectual property enforcement; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives detection technologies; venue, cyber, and infrastructure security assessments; intelligence analysis and threat assessments; and real-time situational awareness reporting for our partners. 

As with past Super Bowls, this event was voluntarily submitted to DHS for a risk assessment. DHS classified this event as a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1, meaning that DHS has determined this event to be significant, with national and international importance, and requiring extensive federal support.