Customs and Border Protection Assists Super Bowl Security

Feb. 3, 2006
From protecting Americans against terrorist and terrorist weapons from entering our country, to ensuring that football fans are purchasing legitimate merchandise, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is supporting several security functions at the 2006 NFL Super Bowl XL.

In cooperation with the Detroit Police Department and dozens of additional federal, state and local entities, CBP has been working for months to ensure that visitors to the Detroit area enjoy one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. CBP is providing support in a variety of ways, including:

CBP officers will conduct non-intrusive inspection operations utilizing the Gamma Ray Inspection Truck to exam all shipments to Ford Field. This technology, which scans trucks as large as 18-wheelers electronically, is similar to a large-scale x-ray. This gives CBP officers the ability to perform thorough examinations of cargo without having to resort to the costly, time-consuming process of unloading each truck for manual searches.

In an unprecedented cooperative effort to shorten wait times for visitors crossing the U.S.- Canadian border on commercial busses, advance passenger information will be transmitted to CBP approximately 1 hour before the expected crossing time for vetting purposes. Passengers, who are aware that their name, birth date and citizenship are being shared, will have a similar experience to U.S.-bound international airline passengers. This advance information will help to determine if any passengers need a more-thorough interview upon their arrival. If necessary, they will have their issue resolved off the bus and will be put on the next bus from the same company. This will allow the original bus to continue to its destination without holding up the entire crossing process. Greyhound, Windsor Transit and all busses associated with the NFL host committee are participating in this program.

Explosive detection canine teams will be deployed at the bridge and tunnel crossings between Detroit and Canada. These teams, which will be brought in from locations throughout the country, will work to expedite inspections of vehicles while checking for explosives. CBP's Canine Enforcement Program is the largest and most diverse law enforcement canine program in the country.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement activities are necessary to police counterfeit products. These fake products not only defraud companies that work hard to develop the genuine products, but unsuspecting consumers may be purchasing something substandard or even unsafe. Joint operations will take place with agents from sister Department of Homeland Security agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure that team-related items being sold are actually legally licensed merchandise.

CBP officers will work within the Joint Operations Center, Intelligence Operations Center and Joint Information Center in locations throughout Detroit supporting various different functions. These include supporting commands centers for law enforcement purposes to disseminating information to the media.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

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