Coast Guard Ramps Up Public Safety Operations Ahead Of Super Bowl

The U.S. Coast Guard is bolstering its security operations in Bay Area waters, lands, and skies in preparation for the Super Bowl in Santa Clara this weekend.

For nine to 10 months, Coast Guard Sector San Francisco has been planning its response to help manage public safety for the Super Bowl and the week leading up to the big game. Sector San Francisco manages maritime safety for the Bay Area and is headquartered on Yerba Buena Island.

The Coast Guard is helping with public safety for the Super Bowl by using canines trained to detect explosives near Super Bowl events and Levi’s Stadium, as well as increasing patrols of San Francisco Bay and monitoring the skies for potential drones being flown.

“This is something that we do every day, just a more robust and augmented response,” said Cmdr. Jarod Toczko in a briefing Wednesday at Coast Guard Sector San Francisco’s base on Yerba Buena Island.

“When you have an event such as this, obviously, that presents additional security measures with the crowds that are gathering,” Toczko said.

The Super Bowl is designated a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1, or SEAR Level 1 event, the highest security classification for a large event. SEAR 1 events involve the comprehensive, multi-agency collaboration of law enforcement groups from the federal, state and local levels.

This means that all hands are on deck for the big game, including the various events leading up the Super Bowl on Sunday.

“We work a lot with our interagency partners here, like local sheriffs and local police departments,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeannie Shaye in an interview. “We’re well synced with them for events all throughout the year, but we especially work cohesively during these larger events.”

The Coast Guard has brought in eight canines from around the country to sniff out for explosives near Levi’s Stadium and the Super Bowl Experience fan event at Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Gama, a 1-year-old Dutch Shepherd from Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, arrived last week and has been working since Saturday. So far, she has done walk-throughs at Levi’s Stadium and Moscone Center and has not detected any explosives.

The Coast Guard is also helping to monitor the “no fly zone” that has temporarily banned drone flying in San Francisco ahead of the Super Bowl.

“We have detection systems all throughout the city to identify if there is a drone in the area,” said Lt. Cmdr. Edward Kalankiewicz at the briefing.

Maritime patrols around San Francisco Bay have also ramped up, with other Coast Guard teams coming to the area to help shore up the response.

“We have an increased presence on the waterways,” Kalankiewicz said. “We have a bunch of additional shoreside personnel and they’ll be staged at different piers throughout the city.”

So far, the U.S. Coast Guard said that it has not detected any credible threats to public safety related to the Super Bowl.