Bag checks start on Bourbon Street ahead of Super Bowl
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The bag checks started Wednesday on Bourbon Street, and they weren't what I was expecting.
Why it matters: All eyes are on security measures in New Orleans as the city hosts the Super Bowl and a presidential visit.
Catch up quick: Gov. Jeff Landry last week announced an "enhanced security zone" in the French Quarter that included bag searches for a portion of Bourbon Street.
Yes, but: I walked most of Bourbon Street twice on Wednesday with a backpack and wasn't stopped at any of the new vehicle barricades.
- Most people weren't. I did see the same National Guardsmen I passed stop two women who matched my profile and ask to check their leather shoulder purses.
- I crossed through barricades staffed by armed Louisiana State Police, levee district officers and the National Guard. We made eye contact, but there was no other interaction.
- The only person who stopped me was a worker setting up for a Fox event on Bourbon. He asked me to move to the sidewalk instead of the street.
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Zoom in: Louisiana State Police spokesperson Kate Stegall said my experience was normal.
- Bags larger than 4.5"x 6.5" are subject to search, but "a bag search is not required to enter," she said.
- The policy will remain in effect through Monday morning.
Meanwhile, security measures will be increasingly daily through Sunday, police say.
- Helicopters were doing flyovers Wednesday to monitor for radiation and other threats. Those will continue all week, NOPD says.
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- More than 2,000 uniformed and plainclothes officers also will be deployed in the area from various agencies.
- NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said authorities are using technology and their camera networks to help with surveillance too.
Zoom out: Kirkpatrick on Wednesday said NOPD anticipated the possibility of a presidential visit during the Super Bowl and it hasn't been difficult to make the security adjustments.
- The primary thing residents will see, she said, is an expanded security perimeter around the Caesars Superdome.
- The closures will also start 24 hours earlier than originally planned.
At the airport, TSA has brought in 65 bomb-sniffing dogs from around the country and 100 extra security officers, according to spokesperson Sari Koshetz.
- The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is expecting record-breaking passenger numbers on Monday. Go deeper.
