Penn State Fans Facing Tight Security For Rose Bowl Festivities
PASADENA, Cal. (CBS) -- Hundreds of Penn State faithful from the Philadelphia region are in southern California for Monday's annual Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game where the Nittany Lions face USC -- and the fans are facing extensive security.
The Rose Bowl and Rose parade attract hundreds of thousands of people to an area northeast of downtown Los Angeles each year for the New Year event.
A sea of blue and white - Penn State fans, of course, will add to the color and the pageantry.
"We're season ticket holders so we wouldn't miss this for the world," said one fan. "And it's just something we'd been looking forward to for years and now it's the culmination."
"This team has a lot of grit, a young talented team. And that's something that you're born with," said another. "You can't teach that or coach that. Always blue and white until the day I die."
In the wake of the Berlin Christmas market attack, authorities are taking measures to ensure no unauthorized vehicles get into parade or stadium areas.
"The Pasadena police department has worked alongside with many other agencies to develop strategies and tactics to prevent or otherwise vehicle incursion," said Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez.
Sanchez says with federal cooperation comes some resources and tools that homeland security personnel will offer.
"An on-site threat assessment center," he said. "So, through our cooperation with the federal government we'll be able to have analysts who will give us real-time information about potential threats to the Rose Parade or the Rose Bowl Game."
Police are using heavy trucks - like they did in Manhattan for the New Year's Eve celebration on Times Square - and water-filled barriers to block streets in Pasadena.
More than 1,500 uniformed and plainclothes officers will be on duty and several security checkpoints are set up. And, authorities are deploying 25 bomb-sniffing canine units along the parade route and at the game site.
Pasadena Lt. Vasken Gourdikian says, unfortunately, it's the new norm for big events like the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl.
"It's just one more added layer of security that we've implemented," Gourdikian said, "but it's something that we're accustomed to doing."
However, authorities say if visitors and residents cooperate with all the measures and restrictions, they'll still be able to enjoy the events and have a safe experience.
