By Jeff Mosier
Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON, Texas — Arlington Police Chief Theron Bowman said he doubts many North Texas police officers will get a holiday when the 2011 Super Bowl arrives.
Thousands of local, state and federal law enforcement officers will be working on game day, and countless more could be called on if needed.
Bowman, speaking after a Super Bowl XLV Council of Mayors meeting Monday, said that he couldn’t reveal more specific staffing levels but that the law enforcement effort would be massive.
“Every officer in North Texas will somehow be connected to the Super Bowl,” Bowman said.
The Arlington chief was a presenter at the host committee’s second Council of Mayors meeting. Mayors and city council representatives from more than 50 North Texas cities gathered at Cowboys Stadium to discuss the game and related events. Other topics included transportation.
Bowman said safety plans have been in the making since the 2011 Super Bowl was still up for bid. He said it would be tough to say when security plans would be completed because they are constantly changing.
“Nothing will be left to chance,” Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said. “We’ll have the airspace taken care of. We’ll have all the space around ... [the stadium] taken care of.”
The Public Safety Executive Committee, which is organizing security, includes Bowman, other police and fire chiefs, an FBI representative and members from the National Football League and Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
Local law enforcement officials have also gone to previous Super Bowls to study security, and many are planning to attend the one next year in South Florida.
There will also be a 10-mile no-fly zone around Cowboys Stadium that could last from 4 p.m. to midnight on game day. That would effectively ground flights at the municipal airports in Arlington and Grand Prairie as well as corporate flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Commercial flights at D/FW would still be permitted.
Bob Porter, director of Arlington Municipal Airport, said customs agents would be placed at some general aviation airports to handle private international flights coming to the region for the Super Bowl. He said the Federal Aviation Administration is also considering installing temporary towers at some airports that don’t have them to help with the increased traffic.
Porter said that as many as 1,500 private planes - about half of them corporate - could be coming to North Texas for the game.
Copyright 2009 Dallas Morning News