Today’s the day; The New England Patriots take on the New York Giants in Super Bowl 46. In an event that has become an annual spectacle for many years, all eyes will be on which team takes home the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy right?
Or maybe it is to see what other celebrities will be there in addition to Madonna’s half time show?
How about all the advertisements that sponsors will be going over the top with, at millions of dollars a minute?
Well, for over 8,000 employees and volunteers in and around Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, the TSA has provided training to be on the lookout for terror threats.
The TSA, as in the Transportation Security Administration you ask? Yes, the same people who accost us at airport security checkpoints trained volunteers at a sporting event.
This is on top of the NFL provided security that will be operating the security checkpoints at the stadium entrances. The NFL is smart and doesn’t subject fans to the rigors of the questionable body scanners, and invasive pat-downs like the TSA does, yet does try to offer at least some screening for dangerous objects and devices.
The NFL security also is more professional and consistent with their operations. The reason is simple – they hire trained professional security companies to work at events. The TSA on the other hand tends to use less than professional, poorly trained staff – operating with a mixed bag of inconsistent rules and processes.
It will be interesting to see if these TSA trained volunteers actually can spot something, or will it end up being a waste of Federal taxpayer dollars on yet another failed initiative. Of course, with NFL security at the true front lines of stopping something from getting into the stadium, the volunteers will have little to worry about inside the stadium.
Of course, the likelihood of a terrorist attack at the stadium is already reduced, due to increased local and state law enforcement presence. This again, leaves the volunteers with much less to worry about.
If the TSA thinks this training is worthwhile to train the volunteers, why not apply it to the tens of thousands who work for the TSA? They sure could use some lessons in behavior detection (and customer service) that are lacking in their workforce today.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, I’m hoping the Patriots win.
