Last year, the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl were kicked up to "rating 1" by the federal government, meaning that whatever security they already had would have to go on steroids. (The new rating was issued long before the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, incidentally.) The events are huge draws—700,000 come out to watch the Rose Parade along its 5.5-mile route, and the Rose Bowl is expected to get 90,000 people in the seats of the Pasadena stadium. To keep those folks terrified but hopefully safe, says Reuters, about two dozen federal agencies are coming together to help the police make sure the parade and the football game are locked down with some seriously beefed-up security measures.
Of course, a rep for Pasadena says, "there will be a lot of things [parade-goers] won't see that will be going on." But whether you can see it or not, the intense security along the parade route will include an overall increase in police presence ("with some officers carrying rifles"), several heavily-armed "tactical 'rapid-response'" units, "dozens" of radiation-detecting devices and dogs trained to sniff out bombs, "two dozen" undercover law enforcement agents, a whole lot of surveillance cameras, US Customs and Border Protection aircraft overhead, and even automatic license-plate readers stationed to "collect data on suspicious vehicles in the area."
The heightened security at the Rose Bowl will have some incredible features too. Homeland Security's deputy special agent in charge tells the LA Times that his agency will be using a huge scanner on big trucks coming into the Rose Bowl area and have in place the tech to track cell phone calls in Pasadena. (The agent says if they need to monitor calls, they'll be quick about getting the appropriate warrants to do so.) All attendees at the Rose Bowl game will be given clear bags to put their stuff in. Neither umbrellas nor selfie sticks will be permitted inside the stadium or in the grandstands along the parade's path. Well at least we can get behind that last one.
· Unprecedented security set for California's Rose Parade, Rose Bowl [Reuters]
· What law enforcement officials are doing to keep the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl safe [LAT]