JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Coast Guard divers prowl the depths of the St. Johns River and inspect the hulls of cruise ships here. Federal helicopters fitted with crowd-surveillance cameras soar overhead. Hundreds of manholes have been locked down, and thousands of security forces are poised to hit the streets.
Jacksonville has never seen anything like the swarming security that will blanket the city when the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles bang helmets Sunday.
Continuing until Monday morning, 53 law enforcement agencies and 3,500 officers from local, state and federal sources will work together in a land, sea and air operation that could make the stadium neighborhood feel like an armed camp. Alltel Stadium, where Super Bowl XXXIX will be played, is surrounded with chain-link fencing and a concrete barrier that lends it the appearance of Baghdad's Green Zone.
In addition, the river will be patrolled by a flotilla of law enforcement craft from a variety of agencies, including the Coast Guard and the game warden. Jet skis and boats will be barred near the stadium Sunday. And a newly installed battery of surveillance cameras, which officials here call a video canopy, will give police a 24/7 view of what's happening in the riverfront area near the stadium and the nightly entertainment venues.
On game day, the 83,000 spectators who walk to the stadium or take shuttle buses through the traffic-restricted streets will negotiate a 1,000-foot gantlet of pat-downs, bag searches and metal detectors at three checkpoints set up inside the temporary fence.
Rutherford is predicting that lessons learned from last year's 45-minute waits to get in at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston will make for a quicker entry to the stadium.