Securing Super Bowl XLVI

Abstract

In February 2012, the city of Indianapolis hosted the world’s greatest sporting event of the year, Super Bowl XLVI. To fans, it was ten days of celebration with concerts, parties, a zip line through downtown, the NFL Experience, and concluding with the Patriots-Giants game on February 5th. But to local, state, and federal public safety officials it was a test of three years planning and coordination efforts involving thirty agencies working under a unified command structure. In this article, Dr. Frank Straub, former Public Safety Director for Indianapolis, gives a first-hand narration of the planning and experiences of hosting the city’s first Super Bowl. The unified command structure employed, along with
advanced intelligence and analytic software to assess real-time information, proved to be the keys to success for public safety officials and can serve as a best practices approach to other cities preparing to host a major event.