Security Measures in Place for Super Bowl LII

Concrete barriers and metal fences are being erected around downtown Minneapolis, where the U.S. Bank Stadium is located, as part of the security for Sunday's Super Bowl LII between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.

The security will include hundreds of officers from 60 police departments across the state, 40 federal agencies, 400 members of the Minnesota National Guard, private contractors, and around ten thousand additional trained volunteers to detect suspicious activities.

Visitors can also expect an increased police presence, bomb-sniffing dogs, helicopters, and officers with tactical equipment.

"Our goal is to keep the city open, vibrant, and safe during the Super Bowl," said Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, whose department is leading the security operation.

The Department of Homeland Security assigns the event a level 1 security status, the highest available, due to the national and international scope of the game.

"This is a high-profile event with a lot of visibility, not only in the United States but worldwide," said Tim Bradley, a security expert from IMG GlobalSecur in Florida.

The Super Bowl is an "attractive target" for terrorists, but at the same time, the extensive security deployment makes it "less attractive" for someone planning an attack, according to Bradley.

Minneapolis has had to seek assistance since it has a relatively small department, with less than 900 officers compared to approximately five thousand in Houston, where the Super Bowl was held last year.

It took two years to plan the security for the Super Bowl, and the Host Committee has reserved around five million dollars for public security, public works, and other costs associated with the game and its festivities.

The stadium's access is unique due to its urban location in the city center, unlike other stadiums located in suburban areas where previous Super Bowls have been held, such as Houston, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Santa Clara, California.

The security tools likely include license plate readers, monitoring of potential threats on social media, radiation detectors, and hundreds of temporary surveillance cameras to supplement existing public and private cameras, according to security experts.

Metropolitan transit officials have dubbed the event "the first transit Super Bowl," as the host committee expects 20,000 out of the projected 67,000 fans attending the game to take public transportation to reach the venue.