Law enforcement Super Bowl command center opens Saturday

PHOENIX — Operations will begin Saturday at a command center in south Phoenix that will serve as the hub of law enforcement during the Super Bowl.

Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said decision makers from all 150 agencies will be stationed at the state-of-the-art Multi-Agency Command Center.

“There’s a lot going on here but it allows us to be able to make these decisions together,” he said. “Nobody’s working in a bubble. From the federal government to the state government, to the local, to the private sector, everybody is in here making decisions.”

Agencies such as FEMA, the FAA, various Valley police departments, and some corporations will have people stationed there so that anyone needed to make decisions in the event of an emergency are readily available.

The room has dozens of tables that outline where each agency will sit and the southwest wall is nearly entirely covered with monitors displaying feeds from traffic cameras, Sky Harbor or any of the 2,000 cameras police have access to across the Valley.

“Events will be scrolling on all of the boards that are put up,” Crump said. “We can instantly go to views anywhere in the city or any venue or any event and have full control of it from here as we’re dealing with the people that are out on the ground working.”

Pretty impressive, an inside look at #Phoenix's multi-agency coordination center for #ProBowl and #SuperBowl.

A video posted by Mark Remillard (@markremillard) on Jan 23, 2015 at 6:32am PST

Crump said the camera feeds, along with helicopters and personnel on the ground, give law enforcement the ability to have eyes on nearly the entire valley during the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Super Bowl Central, Phoenix Open and other events taking place over the coming 10 days.