Philly police added SWAT vehicles outside the Eagles’ game to make fans feel ‘secure’ after New Orleans attack
“Just wanted to get across that the Philadelphia Police Department works very well with the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles,” a police inspector said.
Law enforcement authorities expanded the police presence outside Lincoln Financial Field ahead of the Eagles game Sunday against the New York Giants, seeking to reassure fans that it’s safe to attend big events in the aftermath of the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans.
Armored SWAT vehicles were stationed outside the South Philadelphia sports complex “just to make folks that are coming to this game today feel a little more secure,” said Inspector Jack Fleming of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Traffic Division.
Fleming said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel wanted to acknowledge the attack in New Orleans, where authorities say an Army veteran drove his pickup truck into a crowd of people, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. The FBI has said Shamsud-Din Jabbar was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group.
» READ MORE: How Philly prepares to prevent a New Orleans-style attack
“Just wanted to get across that the Philadelphia Police Department works very well with the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles,” Fleming said during a news conference outside the sports complex. “The NFL does not spare any expense. They continuously upgrade, and we work with them.”
Law enforcement authorities regularly speak and meet with the Eagles to review security plans, including during the offseason, he said. “We do scenarios, and we try to always stay, you know, one step ahead,” Fleming said.
He added that the department started deploying drones earlier this season to bolster security at Eagles games, and that authorities have used the technology at other big events. “The eye in the sky tells us pretty quickly what additional resources we may need,” he said.
Fleming cautioned that police want to promote public safety within the confines of the law. “We live in a free society; people have constitutional rights. That’s a major balancing act, to keep people safe, and we don’t want to violate their constitutional rights.”
The public should tell police officers if “they see something out of order” at events like football games, Fleming said. He said that while Eagles fans “maybe nationally, get a bad reputation,” they are a big help to police.
“Eagles fans are great fans. They are very complementary to the police,” Fleming said. “They work with us. They don’t often work against us. There’s isolated incidents, of course.”
Fans didn’t seem reluctant to attend the final regular-season game of the year Sunday against the Eagles’ rival from up the New Jersey Turnpike. As police held forth with the news media on Broad Street, several passersby motioned toward the cameras and broke into chants of “Go, Birds!” and “E-A-G-L-E-S!”