Law enforcement unveils security preps ahead of Final Four in Glendale
GLENDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — The countdown is on! We are just days away from the Final Four being played in Glendale this weekend.
This is the city’s second time hosting the Final Four, but this time, events in Phoenix and Glendale are expected to draw bigger crowds.
Fans from NC State, Purdue, Alabama and UConn are all making their way to Arizona for their one shining moment.
“We’re just excited to roll out the red carpet. All eyes will be on Arizona when we’re hosting the Final Four teams this weekend,” said Jay Parry, CEO of Phoenix Local Organizing Committee.
In the last 17 years, State Farm Stadium has hosted dozens of marquee events, including last year’s Super Bowl. “We just kind of rolled off from the Super Bowl right into the Final Four,” said Glendale Assistant Police Chief Colby Brandt.
Big crowds require more security and Arizona law enforcement agencies are short officers, so they’re emphasizing teamwork to get the job done.
“Every agency in Arizona is experiencing some sort of staffing shortage as far as staffing is concerned, working together has been the key for us,” he said. “We really have been preparing for this.”
Brandt said there will be hundreds of officers seen and unseen plus, they’ll get help from federal officials.
“We do have some special capabilities as far as bomb technicians’ weapons of mass destruction, folks. I mean, some of the ways we gather intelligence, we want to make sure we’re looking at that collaboratively,” said Jarod Brown, the FBI’s Assistant Special Agent in charge.
Downtown Phoenix is hosting free events like the March Madness music festival at Margaret T. Hance Park and the NCAA Fan Experience at the Convention Center. “We’re an agency of about 450 officers, it requires assistance from everybody in the West Valley. Phoenix is going to be having events there, so they’re going to require assistance as well,” said Glendale police.
The Phoenix Local Organizing Committee says it’s an exciting time for the state; with the Final Four in town for just the second time in seven years, she thinks it’ll be a slam dunk.
“What we saw in 2017 is about 80,000 visitors came to the state,” she said. “I do expect the events to be even bigger and better than in 2017.”
This really is a wide-ranging effort. Anyone thinking of coming to the many events is asked to be patient with traffic, which will most likely have many impacts as well.
“We think of this as a four day celebration and we really have something for everyone,” said Parry. “And they’ll be 10′s of thousands of visitors and locals participating the events.”
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
