DHS Announces "If You See Something, Say Something" Campaign At Super Bowl XLV
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano recently joined National Football League (NFL) Vice President of Security Milt Ahlerich and Arlington, Texas Chief of Police Theron Bowman to announce a new partnership to bring the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) "If You See Something, Say Something" public awareness campaign to Super Bowl XLV -- to help ensure the security of fans, players and employees by identifying and reporting suspicious activity.
"Security is a shared responsibility and each citizen has a role to play in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and threats," said Secretary Napolitano. "Our partnership with the NFL and local law enforcement to bring the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign to Super Bowl XLV is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the safety of every player, employee and fan in the area for the game."
The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign -- originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign -- is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign at Super Bowl XLV will include both print and video advertisements, as well as a training video for NFL employees to ensure that both employees and fans have the tools they need to identify and report suspicious activities and threats. DHS is also working with federal, state, local and private sector partners to support security efforts at the Super Bowl through additional personnel, technology and resources.
Over the past six months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative -- an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism, crime and other threats; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and expand and enhance the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS -- to communities throughout the country.
The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign has recently been launched in Minnesota and New Jersey, as well as to more than 9,000 federal buildings nationwide, Walmart, Mall of America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the sports and general aviation industries, and state and local fusion centers across the country.
In the coming months, DHS will continue to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to help America's businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the country safe.