Super Bowl LIVE 52

Client’s Situation, Threats, and Challenges

Super Bowl LIVE 52 was a 10-day event similar to a “street-festival” and took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, prior to the Super Bowl LII game on February 4, 2018. Working on behalf of the Minnesota Super Bowl LII Host Committee (MNSBHC), Rozin Security oversaw the planning, preparation, and execution of the security plan for the event. Over the eight-month period leading up to the event and during the event itself, Rozin Security’s team orchestrated and led a major collective effort that supported successful operations and an incident-free, safe environment for the thousands of employees and volunteers and the millions of visitors who took part in Minneapolis’s largest sports event ever.

Challenges

• The MNSBHC tasked Rozin Security with all security-related aspects for the event. This included identifying security needs, designing the security plan, obtaining and preparing relevant resources, and managing the implementation and execution of the plan prior to and during the event.
• From a security standpoint, the event presented several major challenges that were a direct result of the event location’s layout, the nature of the event, its scope and magnitude, and its duration. In specific, the following challenges and vulnerabilities played key roles in the planning and implementation of the security plan:
  • The event took place in an open commercial urban area, during and after business hours, with no defined perimeter. As a result, access to the event was unrestricted, and visitors were mixed up with local tenants, shoppers, and others. Multiple access points from streets or from inside adjacent buildings and skyways made it virtually impossible to physically prevent infiltration of weapons or other harmful devices into the event zone.
  • The high profile, along with the extended load-in and event duration, made it very attractive and possible for any potential perpetrator to conduct thorough planning, surveillance, and preparation activities for any type of possible attack.
  • Active traffic around and throughout the event area during event hours presented a special challenge to protect visitors from vehicle-related threats such as vehicle ramming, VBIED, or shooting from a passing vehicle.
  • Main stage performances, various activation points, and other ongoing attractions created multiple simultaneous mass gathering areas, both indoor and outdoor, which required ongoing security attention. In addition, the high presence of celebrities, talents, and VIPs created an ongoing need for executive protection assignments in multiple locations.
  • Ongoing logistical activities and deliveries into the event area, whether directly related or unrelated to the event itself, presented a potential threat through infiltration of harmful means into the event area under the cover of a legitimate supply chain vendor.
  • Multiple stakeholders included private sector organization, local, state, and federal law enforcement, along with emergency response agencies, government entities, and others. This presented a special coordination and operational challenge.
  • Other contributing factors included weather, visibility, high volumes of pedestrians and vehicles, protesters, and crimes-of-opportunity.

Rozin Security Approach

Rozin Security adopted a comprehensive approach for the planning and execution of the security program, which encompassed the following steps:

• Conducted a Threat and Vulnerability Assessment of the event.
• Developed security concept of operations (CONOPS).
• Worked with various stakeholders to ensure CONOPS’ validity and feasibility.
• Designed a detailed security plan, identified resources, and prepared a complete budget.
• Coordinated efforts with various agencies and public/private stakeholders.
• Trained the security workforce.
• Managed implementation and execution through the Security Operations Center.

Security CONOPS
To address the event’s unique challenges, Rozin Security designed a robust multi-layer risk-based security plan grounded in the following principles:

• Threat-based SECURITY ZONES, including event and surrounding streets.
• Early DETECTION of potential threats using behavior detection methods, officers, and other resources, with a focus on identifying
• MALICIOUS INTENT in the context of identified likely motives of operation. These were combined with various threat detection technologies.
• Created DETERRENCE with a heavy presence of uniformed personnel.
• Applied various PREVENTION means such as barriers, technologies, and protocols.
• Enabled quick and effective RESPONSE by positioning and making available tactical and first response teams in critical areas and times.
• Collected, analyzed, and shared REAL-TIME FIELD INTELLIGENCE through the use of the proprietary system for suspicious activity reporting and case management (TIPS).

Results

Security personnel identified multiple potential threats throughout the event period. Of those, some cases of suspicious activities were handed over to law enforcement agencies while others led to legal actions. In addition, the security staff encountered several situations of a crowded environment, mostly during major concerts. These situations were successfully handled with the Minneapolis Police Department, and the crowds were kept safe and under full control.

Millions of people were estimated to have visited Super Bowl LIVE 52 during the 10-day event. They attended multiple large concerts and daily activation points and visited hundreds of vendors and businesses in the area. Despite the many challenges faced with holding an event like the Super Bowl, especially the heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic, no major incidents occurred prior to, during, and after the event.