Minneapolis Police Reach out to St. Cloud for Super Bowl Security Assistance
ST. CLOUD -- The Minneapolis Police Department is reaching out to St. Cloud and several other police departments to help handle security for the upcoming Super Bowl.
Minneapolis Police Commander Scott Gerlicher spoke in St. Cloud Tuesday with police chiefs throughout the state during the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association Executive Training Institute, to see how each department can help out during the Super Bowl festivities.
"I've had some initial conversations with the chief here in St. Cloud and we would like to hope that they would be apart of our coalition needed to be able to send some officers to the Twin Cities during this period of time to help us out. We will be focusing on some of those larger departments such as St. Cloud, Duluth and really any smaller departments throughout the metro area as well."
The Minneapolis Police Department has been preparing for the Super Bowl for over three years. Gerlicher says he has gone to the last two Super Bowls as a way to prepare himself for the major event.
"I went to Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco in Santa Clara and then this past February Super Bowl 51 in Houston. As you might imagine a lot of our public safety planning is similar from a planning structure stand point. Obviously our communities are different but the plans themselves are very similar to what you might see in other cities that have hosted the Super Bowl. So it has been extremely beneficial to talk with those other cities who have hosted Super Bowls."
Over one million people are expected to attend the ten day long festival. Events will begin January 26 and go up until game day on February 4.
Gerlicher says you can expect to walk through metal detectors, have your bag checked and see more officers on the streets during the ten day long festival.
The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee has been working closely with the Minneapolis Police Department to help cover some of the costs to provide security for the event. Gerlicher says funds will not only go to Minneapolis but also surrounding cities such as St. Paul and Bloomington who will be hosting events.
In all there will be 14 official NFL events and more than 100 private events leading up to the big game.