College football fans are excited for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on Jan. 10, and at the same time, they're saddened by the terror attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on the morning of the Sugar Bowl.
“It’s horrible, college football fan Brian Lacey said outside AT&T Stadium. “It’s crazy sad that people would do crazy stuff like that.”
Lacey said he still feels the Cotton Bowl will be a safe event.
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“I think they are going to lock it down a little bit more,” Lacey said.
Arlington police said they've had no threats against the entertainment district or the Cotton Bowl game.
However, in light of what happened in New Orleans, they've been meeting with federal, state and city leaders, AT&T Stadium, and Cotton Bowl members about enhancing security.
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Arlington Police Department Event Management Deputy Chief Leo Daniels said they'll use all safety tools available to them.
“We will have dogs,” Daniels said. “We will be using on-demand aircraft systems. We will be evaluating traffic plans. We will be evaluating crowd movement. We will be using camera systems. All of those things will be part of our plan.”
Daniels said that although the department frequently hosts major events without issues, it isn't complacent and is reviewing all safety plans.
“We did make some enhancements, which we did, move some different officers around,” Daniels said. “We probably will move some more, see some more visible presence from our officers, and some more vehicles and things of that nature. So, it really is just kind of like a reallocation and moving around and just adjusting based on what we see and what we're concerned with.”
Police also asked for visitors to help be on the lookout.
“If someone sees something and they are concerned about it, make that phone call,” Daniels said. “It's no problem for us to evaluate and move on."
