'Army of security' in place for Super Bowl

HOUSTON — Police in Texas are preparing for the big crimes that come with big events, such as the Super Bowl on Sunday.

A million people are expected to converge in Houston this weekend for the big game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots.

Houston officials are planning several sting operations to keep crimes such as human trafficking from happening in their city.

State police told Channel 2’s Liz Artz that they have several undercover operations they are planning right now for this week and game day. Their goal, they said, is to stop human trafficking this weekend, and also to get help for any victims.

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“The demand for sex increases with larger gatherings,” Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Craig Cummings said. “It’s women who are being brought here to be a part of this event.”

“We're doing multiple different stings that are here in the area to attract those types of folks and to identify those individuals,” he said.

It's just one part of a massive multijurisdictional effort to prevent crime in Houston during Super Bowl LI Sunday.

A special agent with the FBI said for three years the city has been planning for this day, which is now only a week away.

People who live in Houston say they have noticed they preparations.

“All the police dogs were here yesterday. We had K-9 units walking around so there is a presence of safety,” Paul Shoemaker said.

Bomb-sniffing dogs have been conducting random sweeps. The FBI said it has used every resource available to detect any sort of threat and stop human trafficking.

An army of security is in place, working to protect every inch of the 2-million square foot stadium.

The FBI says for every uniformed officer in place, there is an undercover agent as well.

“We traveled (to other Super Bowl cities) to take a look at what they’d done and we got feedback on what worked and what didn’t work,” Special Agent Shauna Dunlap said.

Dunlap said the advantage Houston has is that the events are confined to two small areas. On Monday, K-9s walked the streets with handlers, Houston police officers were stationed at every intersection and security was everywhere.

Dunlap told Artz the stadium where Sunday’s game will be played has been on lockdown for days.

The ATF, she said, will do routine sweeps from now leading up to the Super Bowl.

As of now, she said, there have been no threats.

“We have no information to indicate anything specific or credible threat at this time but again, we're in place ready to respond,” she said.

The FBI says the best information comes from people who are attending the game, in the crowds. They encourage everyone to call police if they see something that looks suspicious.

Cox Media Group