Super Bowl XLIV security news conference 2010-02-01 1

A National Special Security Event (NSSE) is an event of national or international significance deemed by the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

(DHS) to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events have included summits of world leaders, meetings of international organizations, presidential nominating conventions and presidential inaugurations. NSSE designation requires federal agencies to provide full cooperation and support to ensure the safety and security of those participating in or otherwise attending the event, and the community within which the event takes place, and is typically limited to specific event sites for a specified time frame. An NSSE places the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

as the lead agency in charge of the planning, coordination, and implementation of security operations for the event, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

in charge of intelligence, counterterrorism, and investigation of major criminal activities associated with the event, and the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

in charge of recovery management in the aftermath of terrorism, major criminal activities, natural disasters, or other catastrophic incidents following the event. Like the FBI and FEMA, the Secret Service brings in local law enforcement, public safety, and military experts to assist with developing the plan, and give them the special guidance and training to operate within the security plan. NSSE designation is not a funding mechanism, and currently there is no specific federal "pot of money" to be distributed to state and local governments within whose jurisdiction NSSEs take place.

Authority

NSSE procedures were established by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in a portion of

Presidential Decision Directive 62 A National Special Security Event (NSSE) is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events have ...

in May 1998, which set out the security roles for federal agencies at major events. The Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000 (, signed into law on 2000-12-19) added special events explicitly to the powers of the

in .

Procedure

A number of factors are taken into consideration when designating an event as a National Special Security Event.

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

press releases A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

usually cite the following factors:{ *Anticipated attendance by dignitaries. Events attended by officials of the United States government or foreign dignitaries may create an independent federal interest to ensure that the event transpires without incident and that sufficient resources are brought to bear in the event of an incident. *Size of the event. A large number of attendees and participants generally increases security requirements. In addition, larger events are more likely to draw the attention of terrorists or other criminals, particularly those interested in employing weapons of mass destruction. *Significance of the event. Some events have historical, political, cultural, or other symbolic significance that may heighten concern about possible terrorist acts or other criminal activity. *Duration of the event. State and local law enforcement and public safety agencies may possess the manpower and other resources to provide adequate security for a major event within their jurisdiction (e.g. World Series, NASCAR race, Super Bowl, televised awards show), but unable to do so for events over several days or weeks and at the same time continue to meet routine obligations in the greater community. *Availability of state and local resources. When state and local jurisdictions lack the expertise, experience, manpower or other assets needed to ensure comprehensive protection of these major events of national or international significance. *Multiplicity of Jurisdictions. Extensive coordination of law enforcement and public safety agencies from multiple jurisdictions. *

Threat assessment Threat assessment is the practice of determining the credibility and seriousness of a potential threat, as well as the probability that the threat will become a reality. Threat assessment is separate to the more established practice of violence-r ...

s. Anticipation of terrorism, or extensive illegal civil disobedience or other criminal activity. Typical NSSE security measures include: * Interagency coordination and interoperability * Heavy police (days off and leaves may be canceled) and often

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

presence * Police dogs for bomb detection * Surveillance * WMD detection, mitigation, and decontamination *

Sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

s and other tactical capabilities * Flight restrictions around the area *

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

patrols * Increased railroad security * Extensive road closures * When applicable members of Joint Task Force - Civil Support and the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF) are deployed The

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

notes that since the "Presidential Protection Act of 2000 became public law...the Secret Service is authorized to participate in the planning, coordination and implementation of security operations at special events of national significance.... nd thatwhen an event is designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as a National Special Security Event (NSSE), the Secret Service assumes its mandated role as the lead agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plan...The goal of the cooperating agencies is to provide a safe and secure environment for Secret Service protectees, other dignitaries, the event participants and the general public. There is a tremendous amount of advance planning and coordination in preparation for these events."

Events

paragraph (e)(2) requires that, at the end of each federal

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

, the executive branch report to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

which events were designated NSSEs, and what criteria were used to make the designations. Typical types of NSSEs are state funerals, major political conventions, and the State of the Union addresses. The table below lists some NSSEs since enactment of the relevant statute. {, class="wikitable sortable" ! Date ! Event ! Location ! Notes , - , , World Energy Council Meeting , , , - , ,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

50th Anniversary Celebration , , , - , ,

World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 The WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, over the course of three days, beginning Tuesday, 30 November 1999. ...

, , , - , , 2000 State of the Union Address , , , - , ,

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

Spring Meeting , , , - , , Operation Sail Summer Millennium Celebration , , , - , ,

2000 Republican National Convention The 2000 Republican National Convention convened at the First Union Center (now the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 31 to August 3, 2000. The 2000 delegates assembled at the convention nominated Texas Governor Geor ...

, , , - , ,

2000 Democratic National Convention The 2000 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention for the Democratic Party. The convention nominated Vice President Al Gore for president and Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut for vice president. Th ...

, , , - , , First inauguration of George W. Bush , , , - , , 2001 Presidential Address to Congress , , , - , ,

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

56th session , , , - , ,

2002 State of the Union Address The 2002 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 29, 2002, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 107th United States Congress. ...

, , , - , ,

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

USA Meeting , , , - , ,

Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

, , , - , ,

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, , , - , , 2003 State of the Union Address , , , - , ,

2004 State of the Union Address The 2004 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 20, 2004, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 108th United States Congress. I ...

, , , - , , 30th G8 summit , , , - , ,

State funeral of Ronald Reagan On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died after having Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. Reagan was the first former U.S. president to die in 10 years since Richard Nixon in 1994. At the age of , Reagan ...

, , , - , ,

2004 Democratic National Convention The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts for president and Senator John Edwards from North ...

, , , - , ,

2004 Republican National Convention The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidates fo ...

, , , - , ,

Second inauguration of George W. Bush The second inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd president of the United States took place on Thursday, January 20, 2005, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 55th inauguration and marked the be ...

, , , - , , 2005 State of the Union Address , , , - , ,

2006 State of the Union Address The 2006 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 31, 2006, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 109th United States Congress. It ...

, , , - , ,

State funeral of Gerald Ford On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, died at home in Rancho Mirage, California at 6:45 p.m. local time (02:45, December 27, UTC).Wilson, JeffFormer President Ford dies at 93Associated Press. At 8:49& ...

, , , - , , 2007 State of the Union Address , , , - , , 2008 State of the Union Address , , , - , ,

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The convent ...

, , 26th NSSE , - , ,

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popul ...

, , 27th NSSE , - , ,

2008 G20 Washington summit The 2008 G20 Washington Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy took place on November 14–15, 2008, in Washington, D.C., United States. It achieved general agreement amongst the G20 on how to cooperate in key areas so as to stren ...

, , , - , , Pre-Inaugural Whistle Stop Tour , , Part of inaugural ceremonies , - , , We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial , , , - , ,

First inauguration of Barack Obama The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendanc ...

, , , - , , 2009 Presidential Address to Congress , , , - , , 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit , , , - , ,

2010 State of the Union Address The 2010 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 27, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 111th United States Congress. It w ...

, , , - ,
(to April 13) ,

2010 Nuclear Security Summit The 2010 Nuclear Security Summit was a summit held in Washington, D.C., on April 12 and 13, 2010. The Summit focused on how to better safeguard weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to prevent nuclear terrorism. Overview The New START treaty was s ...

, , , - , ,

2011 State of the Union Address The 2011 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 25, 2011, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 112th United States Congress. It w ...

, , , - , - , , 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit , , , - , , 2012 State of the Union Address , , , - , ,

38th G8 summit The 38th G8 summit was held in Camp David, Maryland, United States, on 18–19 May 2012. The event occurred just before the year's NATO summit. The G8 summit was moved from Chicago, where it was going to be held back-to-back with the NATO summ ...

, , , - , , 2012 NATO Chicago Summit , , , - , ,

2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the Republican Party (United States), U.S. Republican Party during which Delegate (American politics), delegates officially nominated former List of governors of Massachusetts, Ma ...

, , , - , , 2012 Democratic National Convention , , , - , ,

Second inauguration of Barack Obama The second inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States was the 57th inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final term of Obama as president and Joe Biden as vice president. A private swearing-in ceremony to ...

, , , - , - , ,

2013 State of the Union Address The 2013 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on February 12, 2013, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 113th United States Congress. It ...

, , , - , ,

2014 State of the Union Address The 2014 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 28, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 113th United States Congress. It w ...

, , , - , - , ,

2015 State of the Union Address The 2015 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 20, 2015, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 114th United States Congress. It w ...

, , , - , , Pope Francis's 2015 visit to the United States , , , - , , 2016 State of the Union Address , , , - , - , , 2016 Republican National Convention , , , - , ,

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

, , , - , January 20, 2017 ,

Inauguration of Donald Trump The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Donald Trump's term as president and Mike Pence as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony hel ...

, , , - , February 28, 2017 , 2017 Presidential Address to Congress , , , - , ,

2018 State of the Union Address The 2018 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, on January 30, 2018, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 115th United States Congres ...

, , , - , - , , State funeral of George H. W. Bush , , , - , - , , 2019 State of the Union Address , , , - , ,

2020 State of the Union Address The 2020 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, on February 4, 2020, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 116th United States Congres ...

, , , - , August 17–20, 2020 ,

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...

, , , - , August 24–27, 2020 ,

2020 Republican National Convention The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 202 ...

, , , - , January 20, 2021 ,

Inauguration of Joe Biden The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The 59th presidential ...

, , , - , April 28, 2021 , 2021 Presidential Address to Congress , , , -

References

{{Reflist

External links

United States Secret Service: National Special Security Event - Wayback Machine (Archive)

DHS Fact Sheet: National Special Security Events - Wayback Machine (Archive) in January 2007
*
DHS Fact Sheet: National Special Security Events - Wayback Machine (Archive) in March 2012

CRS report on NSSEs

Center for Domestic Preparedness - NSSE NLE Support - FEMA

National Special Security Events: Fact Sheet - CRS

Anatomy of a National Special Security Event

Law enforcement in the United States Terrorism laws in the United States United States Department of Homeland Security United States federal defense and national security legislation