Super Bowl safety and security

OPINION:

Cathy Lanier won’t be calling the game plays at Super Bowl LI in Houston on Sunday. As the NFL’s senior VP of of security, her game book is pat, for the most part.

Still, she certainly doesn’t want anyone saying, “Houston, we have a problem.”

Security is tight:

• The security perimeter alone stretches five city blocks;

• Nearly 3,000 miles of concrete barriers are in place;

• There are eyes and ears — thousands and thousands of eyes and ears — in private security; and

• The skies are clear. Not from a weatherman or meteorological viewpoint, but from a safety and security perspective. NRG Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, is a no-fly zone on game days. (Even Lady Gaga isn’t expected to swoop in like a caped vamp.)

The remainder of Ms. Lanier’s to-do list includes:

• working with 40 different federal agencies;

• corralling a handful of local and state law enforcement agencies;

• handling protesters wailing against immigration and refugee issues;

• preparing for possibility of terrorists, who, as we saw just this week at Paris’ Louvre Museum, like to showcase their violence in popular public settings;

• dealing with fans who could go over the edge before, during and after the game at NRG Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 71,795; and

• controlling the stadium itself, which is on public, not private, property — unlike, say, the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium, which both are owned by the Kraft family. NRG is owned by Harris County.

There will also be children, families and a broad array of celebrities and political folk on hand for the Super Bowl events, including former President George H.W. Bush, who is slated for the game’s coin toss.

Texans l-o-v-e football, which could be construed as an understatement.

This is Ms. Lanier’s first Super Bowl undertaking. Born and reared in the D.C. area, she spent her law enforcement career with the Metropolitan Police Department and was its chief for the past nine years. She grabbed the reins of NFL safety and security post last fall.

As chief, she worked with multiple agencies on a daily basis, and twice clutched hands with the feds and regional law enforcers for the largest-ever Inaugural Day turnout in U.S. history — Barack Obama’s in 2009.

Also, the nation’s capital could easily be dubbed “Protest Capital,” as some group is always rallying against something — even if that something entails breaking the law to hoist a banner that simply states “RESIST.”

From Ms. Lanier’s perspective, though, the weeklong events for Super Bowl LI preparedness are no comparison.

“This is a challenge much bigger than inauguration,” Ms. Lanier told D.C. area radio station WTOP.

Next up: Super Bowl LII in Minnesota, home of the Vikings.

Indeed, Ms. Lanier is scheduled to hit Minnesota soon after the Patriots-Falcons matchup.

Good thing Texans do things big. Really big.