World Cup Security Expands the Government Apparatus

Thousands of government personnel, millions of visitors and almost a dozen locations shaped the World Cup security operation. It was a vast exercise in coordinating state power across agencies and jurisdictions. Tim Hanes and Mary Rupert of LMI told Federal News Network that the tournament exposed the scale of the work—and why officials must keep investing in people, equipment and technology.

The Machinery Behind the Event

Hanes said the Department of Homeland Security shutdown lasted until April 30, and the first FIFA match took place June 11. Some personnel who prepared for the event were furloughed or worked without pay. The operation relied as much on relationships with state, local, tribal and territorial partners as it did on hardware, Hanes said. White House Task Force-led federal coordination teams worked at each site, coordinating security across the portfolio, including counter-unmanned aircraft systems.

The tournament received major investments in funding and leadership to bring those efforts together. Hanes warned that the work must continue after the event ends. Federal Emergency Management Agency grants and other funding have put more equipment in operators’ hands; now, maintaining it and training personnel add to the next round of demands.

“We've hit some training capacity, but we really need to keep our foot on the gas and continue the investment, albeit at a lower scale,” Hanes said. The phrase is familiar in government security: the event ends, but the apparatus seeks a continuing budget and mandate.

Hanes said lessons from the tournament could carry over to college and professional football games, the Super Bowl and the World Series. Rupert said federal operators trained, mentored and taught state and local partners, drawing on counter-UAS deployments by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice since the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018. DHS's first deployment came in 2019. Federal operations have also taken place at the southwest border, federal facilities and events protecting the president and other VIPs.

Sensors, Drones and the Risk Below

Counter-drone security brings together sensors, cameras and detection equipment with operator training and preparation at each site, Rupert said. Drone tactics change quickly. Some methods, including fiber optics and GPS waypoints, may not emit a radio-frequency signature that officials can detect, she said, making a shared airspace picture built from federal, state and local sensors and data a priority.

The response itself can put people on the ground at risk. Officials must mitigate threats without causing collateral damage, Rupert said. “When you're in the middle of New York City, the last thing we want to do is mitigate a drone and have it fall on a person or a business or cause any other kind of damage,” she said. “We have to learn to be very surgical with our mitigation techniques as well.” Security technology over crowded places can endanger the very people it’s meant to protect.

Hanes also said drones can give first responders and law enforcement real-time visibility, including in disaster zones vehicles can’t reach. Rupert said security officials need to track authorized drones too, including those operated by first responders, delivery services, fire and police departments, and recreational users.

A Permanent Mission

Rupert said fusion centers operating across the country for decades could carry counter-UAS information, intelligence, best practices and training materials. The Safer Skies Act has brought state and local partners into the newer counter-UAS mission, she said. The account describes coordination among government agencies and security personnel; it doesn’t describe a community-led response.

Hanes identified the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics as the next major opportunity to continue the work, with other national special security events scheduled before then. Rupert said the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory, or NUSTL, supports state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement as an independent test-agent laboratory in Manhattan, New York. Its System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders program helps emergency responders and law enforcement make procurement decisions.

For the World Cup, NUSTL helped officials navigate $250 million in grant funding for counter-UAS equipment. It also hosted a SAVER assessment at a Customs and Border Protection Phillips facility in West Virginia, where six law-enforcement agencies tested equipment in operational scenarios. The agencies practiced carrying cases up stairs, setting up and dismantling systems, and detecting drones, then gave feedback on how equipment worked in their operations centers. The temporary security operation leaves behind equipment, training and an expanding network of agencies preparing to use them again.