By Missy Wilkinson
Source The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
From helicopters churning in the skies above the French Quarter to Louisiana National Guard members toting M4 rifles alongside revelers gripping Hand Grenade cocktails on Bourbon Street, the full force of the massive law enforcement presence in New Orleans came into focus Wednesday as Super Bowl crowds began building.
Heavy metal barricades, bollards, arches and wedges in varying configurations cluttered nearly every block of the Vieux Carre, often manned by soldiers. Federal homeland security agents also stood guard, some equipped with tactical off-road Polaris vehicles. On other streets, state agents kept watch.
Dozens of canines sniffed past bags headed into downtown hotels. At a heavily guarded checkpoint on Canal and Bourbon streets, National Guard members in camouflage peered into bags as people walked past.
It was at that exact spot that a radicalized Army veteran from Texas veered his F-150 around a parked police cruiser and sped down Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens more on New Year's Day.
Now, more than 2,000 federal, local and state officers occupy that ground to ensure the massive crowds expected for Sunday's big game are safe, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
"I don't know of any city right now with this level of infrastructure with the exception of New York," Kirkpatrick said. "We're very excited about this week, and we're really quite prepared."
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The obstacle course that the French Quarter has become, weeks after the tragic vehicle attack, is the most visible piece of a security apparatus that includes much that is unseen, officials say. Anti-drones, threat analysts, snipers and an extensive network of high-tech cameras with far-reaching AI capabilities are among the tools in place, according to federal and local officials.
"Both covert and overt teams are in and around the downtown area," said Tonya Barrett, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations.
Even more security
The Quarter's transformation into a hardened security zone was difficult to escape on Wednesday. Surrounding Bourbon Street, at least two National Guard soldiers staffed each of many wedge barriers blocking street access. Some of them served as impromptu snack tables stocked with bottled water, Chee-tos and paper sacks from Cafe du Monde.
"Right now, we're seeing more workers and staff than visitors. And I have mixed feelings about the National Guard—these young people holding M4s," said pedicab operator David "No Chill" Pilioski.
Pilioski has pedaled visitors around for Mardi Gras and two Sugar Bowls, and he was at work the night Shamsud-din Jabbar went on his killing spree after professing allegiance to the Islamic State. He said the physical barriers erected in response to the attack have changed how he and his colleagues do their jobs.
"The bollards we had before the Super Bowl were like Swiss cheese," Pilioski said. "We could get around the side. ... Right now, security's much tighter."
Kirkpatrick said that Bourbon Street would have a "hard closure" from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., when it will become "essentially for pedestrians."
Meanwhile, a series of metal archers guarded the entrances to Jackson Square, where five National Guard soldiers joined a sparse crowd of onlookers Wednesday to watch a mime perform a "trapped in a box" routine.
A hardened target
Much of the federal security apparatus is standard for the Super Bowl and would be in place regardless of the Jan. 1 attack, said Jim Hayes, a retired senior agent with the Department of Homeland Security who participated in federal security operations for the 2014 Super Bowl and other major events.
Hayes said many of the unseen security measures are now in full effect from the airport to downtown New Orleans. They revolve around "threat intelligence," including monitoring of social media networks leading up to the game.
The aim is to "see what people are saying about the Super Bowl, the attitude about the Super Bowl," he said. "They're investigating even minor threats that may be made electronically."
Security will tighten even more now that President Donald Trump plans to attend the game on Sunday, prompting police to initiate Superdome street closures from Loyola Avenue to Galvez Street earlier than planned, NOPD said.
"You're going to have Secret Service more heavily involved in the screening. You're going to have a sitting President in the venue," Hayes said.
Troops and barriers galore
While Pilioski feared the military checkpoints and other obstacles would cut into his bottom line, others view the coming days with promise. Antonio David, who works at Truffoire Gourmet Skin Care on Decatur Street, said he expects "a lot of customers," despite the hassles.
"It feels safe. It's a little bit harder (to get to work), but it's fine," David said. "We're excited for the Super Bowl."
Swift responses
The heavy military presence doesn't stop all transgressions in the Vieux Carre, but it does promise swift response times.
On Wednesday around 1:30 p.m., it took a state police SWAT team moments to respond after a man followed a woman into a coffee shop at Decatur and Barracks streets and grabbed her from behind.
The troopers questioned workers who suspected the man was "on something." The woman, Amy Qi of New Orleans, had come to the coffee house to get some work done and said she was surprised and heartened by the swift response.
"When police came super quickly—I didn't think that would happen," Qi said. "I feel really safe here."
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