Rose Bowl, Rose Parade Rank as High Profile Targets; Feds to Provide Added Security Measures
Pasadena will deploy security cameras, license plate scanners and devices capable of scanning vendors’ trucks and others that can detect uranium.
The 127th Rose Parade and Rose Bowl will receive more federal support than in any year before, after receiving a Special Event Assessment Rating 1, a designation given to the Super Bowl and fewer than 12 other national events each year.
PASADENA, Calif. – Federal authorities ranked the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game as one of the highest profile targets in the United States this year, though they’ve received no specific threats to the New Year’s Day events, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.
The 127th Rose Parade and Rose Bowl will receive more federal support than in any year before, after receiving a Special Event Assessment Rating 1, a designation given to the Super Bowl and fewer than 12 other national events each year, according to Mark Selby, a deputy special agent with Homeland Security Investigations and the federal coordinator for the Rose Bowl.
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“This year’s the first year we’ve really increased our footprint,” Selby told the newspaper. As a result, residents and visitors can expect more police and more technology throughout the city.
For the first time, cameras will cover the entire parade route and the game. Roughly 24 K-9s will patrol the streets, dozens of undercover officers will mix into the crowds and more than 12 rapid response teams will stand ready, officials said Tuesday.
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“There’s no specific threats to the Rose Parade or the Rose Bowl,” Selby said. “We still have to plan for the worst.”
The higher rating means more federal dollars and “complete access” to the Department of Homeland Security’s resources, Selby said. In prior years, the Pasadena Police Department worked with Homeland Security, but it had to know what to ask for.
“There is nothing they can not ask for,” he said. “There were so many resources they didn’t know they could get.”
That includes more cameras on the street, more automated license plate scanners throughout the city and advanced detection technology, such as devices capable of scanning vendors’ trucks and others that can detect uranium, officials said.
The parade and game received the SEAR 1 Rating last year, before the shooting in San Bernardino, Selby said. The rating is determined by how iconic an event is, how many people attend and world events, he said. DHS and the Pasadena Police Department have increased security in response to the terrorist attack perpetuated by a radicalized husband and wife that killed 14 and injured 21, but the bulk of their preparations began earlier, officials said.
“This is not a Band-Aid to throw on an open wound,” Selby said.
Pasadena Police Spokeswoman Tracey Ibarra told the newspaper the higher rating means the department, which leads the security detail, is more prepared than ever.
“We’ve always had some (federal resources) but now we have much more,” she said. It also means the city has direct access to the DHS’s monitoring, with Selby keeping them advised of any possible threats.
The game between Iowa and Stanford will kick off around 2 p.m. Jan. 1 and the parade begins around 8 a.m.
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