NJ Cops | Page 37

NEW JERSEY COPS n FEBRUARY 2014 37 Super (Bowl) Security NJ Transit Local 304 officers ensured safe transport of record-breaking crowds to and from the Big Game. n BY JOSHUA SIGMUND First and goal Was the Super Bowl a success? It really depends on who you ask… For the Seahawks, certainly. For the Broncos, definitely not. For New York City’s economy, probably. For the New Jersey residents trying to navigate the tourist swarm, not as much. But the real victory this year overwhelmingly went to the men and women of the New Jersey Transit Police Department whose tireless efforts during the greater Super Bowl week ensured that all 80,000 attendees at the Big Game, and the hundreds of thousands who traveled in and out of the city that week, remained safe. “The operation started on Jan. 25, a week before the Super Bowl,” explained New Jersey Transit Local 304 Vice President Christopher Truppa. “All 250 sworn officers worked from then until the Monday after the game with no days off for a minimum of 13-hour shifts.” The first “Mass Transit Super Bowl,” as the media dubbed it due to the near exclusive access to MetLife Stadium via public transportation, was considered a Special Event Assessme