Seattle law enforcement agencies are ramping up citywide security plans as the FIFA World Cup approaches.
SEATTLE — Seattle is bracing for unprecedented global attention when fifa world cup Arriving in just over three weeks, law enforcement agencies say security planning has been years in the making.
Seattle will host six games over three weeks and 750,000 visitors are expected to visit the area, making it one of the most important events the city has ever hosted.
“I don’t think there’s really anything that comes close to the level of this World Cup,” said Mike Herrington, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “It’s expected to be the biggest sporting event ever.”
Federal, state and local agencies have been coordinating for years to develop a layered security plan covering aviation, land and transportation systems.
Herrington said the FBI will play a key support role, working with local partners and deploying specialized resources when needed.
“We are working closely with all of them to provide them with any support they need,” he said. “We have dedicated teams, such as our SWAT team, such as our bomb technician team, that can support their work in the event of an incident.”
One major focus will be monitoring the skies over Seattle, including detecting and potentially disabling unauthorized drones.
Locally, the Seattle Police Department is planning a large-scale operation across the city.
“Across the entire footprint, there are over 450 officers [will be] Deployed,” said SPD Capt. Dan Nelson.
Nelson said preparations for the World Cup have been underway for the past three years. The strategy includes stationing uniformed and plainclothes police around Lumen Stadium, fan zones and major transportation hubs.
The city is also preparing four separate fan celebration centers, each requiring crowd control and traffic management.
“You’re going to need all the crowd management and uniformed police officers to manage this situation,” Nelson said. “All traffic is going to be affected, so we have quite a large deployment to manage the traffic control plan.”
The King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) will also significantly increase staffing in what officials call the FIFA Core Service Area, which includes the surrounding area around Lumen Field, which will be known as Seattle Stadium due to FIFA’s no-sponsorship rule.
More than 200 staff will be on duty each match day, with a focus on public transport.
KCSO officials said uniformed and plainclothes officers will patrol buses and trains where large crowds are expected.
The county is also working with federal partners to develop counter-drone technology to protect restricted airspace during games. County officials said about 50 drones will be deployed to provide real-time situational awareness during the event. Authorities stressed that the drones would be responding to incidents rather than conducting general surveillance.
Officials said the scale of the World Cup requires coordination at all levels, as hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to visit and multiple events will be held in the region.
