Attacks on Miami Super Bowl from Sea Will Meet This Black Hawk-Interceptor Combo
It would seem those in attendance at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, or milling about the adjacent Miami area for Super Bowl LIV, will have little to worry about in terms of comprehensive event security.
According to The Associated Press, despite an apparent absence of credible threats, joint efforts are being made by Florida and federal law enforcement agencies to guard one of the nation’s largest spectacles against threats ranging from “a detonated bomb” to “massive food poisoning.”
Reportedly leading that security charge this weekend is a team of roughly 150 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, who bring with them no shortage of heavy machinery.
“We’re part of a huge law enforcement team down here in South Florida to ensure the integrity and security of both the game itself and the events leading up to it,” CBP Director of Field Operations Diane Sabatino said in a Wednesday new release. “We have a number of missions in support of the national special security event.”
It takes a team to tackle security efforts for a major event like the @SuperBowl. Learn CBP’s role in the game plan for #SBLIV security: https://t.co/EMqojbt1lr pic.twitter.com/hr9REm8x04
— CBP (@CBP) January 31, 2020
Tasked in previous years with guarding official Super Bowl Sunday festivities against a wide variety of threats to the general public, CBP is faced this year in Miami with the unique challenge of leveraging strategic resources against the potential for an attack that comes by sea.
And that is exactly where much of the aforementioned heavy machinery comes into play.
Provided by CBP Air and Marine Operations, a special response team made up of a combination of high-speed aquatic interceptor vehicles and overseen by a slew of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters has already begun patrols in the Atlantic waters and skies surrounding the city.
The team’s role is simple: To prevent aquatic approach by craft suspected to be carrying drugs, human cargo or other dangerous contraband.
Audiences worldwide were treated to exactly what the team’s rapid response process looks like on Monday, when Defense Visual Information Distribution Service released video of CBP AMO’s Super Bowl training exercises.
“Our air assets are going to go in to identify a target,” said AMO Marine Interdiction Agent Alex Rodriguez, describing the process to Fox News’ Tomi Lahren during one such exercise last week.
“We utilize our Black Hawk to be the eyes in the sky for the overall interdiction effort,” Rodriquez said. “They have the means of stopping that vessel as well.”
“There’s going to be a lot of overwhelming force. You’ll see that it’s going to compel them to stop,” he added. “If he doesn’t, we have means to actually mitigate that as well.”
SUPER BOWL SECURITY: Fighter jets practice mid-air refueling ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, so they can remain in the air the whole game and not have to leave the area and come back to get more gas. https://t.co/6rk1ccjDo3 pic.twitter.com/Zyaui4za2v
— KDKA (@KDKA) January 30, 2020
Weeks before Super Bowl LIV, we joined 20 police snipers as they trained at Hard Rock Stadium in preparation for the world’s biggest sporting event.
WATCH HERE: https://t.co/ubsirzbLHu pic.twitter.com/jxU2OEzkSr
— Tactical-Life.com (@TacticalLife1) January 30, 2020
These are far from the only measures being taken to secure Super Bowl LIV, however.
According to the AP, federal officials are taking a number of precautions, from an increasing CDC-led screening of fliers originating from China at Miami International Airport in light of the coronavirus outbreak to getting all event staff and volunteers participating in a single, real-time crime reporting app known as SaferWatch.
More than 20 police snipers have also conducted on-site target practice in recent weeks, TacticalLife.com reported, and local sources confirm fighter jets will be enforcing a “No Fly Zone” for the entirety of Sunday night’s game, never leaving the airspace to refuel.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Miami Homeland Security Investigations chief Anthony Salisbury told the AP. “This is a high-profile event. It’s the same with every Super Bowl.”
“Nothing is being taken for granted.”
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