When the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams kick off in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, they will do so in one of the most secure environments on Earth. Here’s what protecting this year’s marquee event at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium entails.
First off, there is advance preparation that begins at the moment a host city is chosen. This work focuses on route security, provision for the tourists who will visit the city, crisis response infrastructure (hospitals, etc.), and contingencies for the staging of a mass deployment of state and federal resources. Much of this work was completed months ago. When it comes to leadership of Super Bowl security, the Department of Homeland Security is the lead federal department, with its subordinate agency, the Secret Service, playing a pivotal role. That authority would shift to the FBI if a terrorist attack were to occur. Regardless, the FBI brings boutique capabilities to bear alongside the Atlanta Police Department. But that’s just the people side of things.
This week the Energy Department will have repeatedly swept Atlanta and outlying areas to detect any signs of nuclear or radiological material. Other government and military agencies will have searched for biological and chemical threats. All of these various federal, state, and local elements come together in the tactical operations center, the heart of the operation.
So what can we expect on Sunday?
Primarily, the deployment of an array of overt and covert capabilities. Plainclothes federal law enforcement agents and police officers will be posted around Mercedes-Benz Stadium alongside surveillance and sniper teams. They will offer the physical support to the hundreds — perhaps thousands — of security cameras that will have been set up inside and around the stadium. This is complicated work. After all, in 2019, guarding static targets involves protecting against threats ranging both mortar teams, suicide bombers, kamikaze pilots, drone explosive attackers, etc.
Still, the government security effort won’t take any chances here. A national tier-one tactical unit, likely the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, will also be deployed near the stadium with means of rapid access to its interior if necessary. But that’s just on the ground. Assuming Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base has been repaired to operational status, its F-22 fighter complement will provide air superiority cover for Atlanta. If not, I would assume either the 157th fighter squadron of South Carolina’s Air National Guard, the 159th fighter squadron of Florida’s Air National Guard, or the 160th fighter squadron of Alabama’s Air National Guard will fill this role.
Put simply, Sunday’s security envelope is designed to mitigate the broadest range of possible threats and decisively resolve any that arise.
