A small army of privately funded safety patrol officers will hit the streets of Dallas during Super Bowl week to ensure visitors have a safe visit.
The effort is being funded by the nonprofit Downtown Dallas Inc., a coalition of downtown businesses.
"We are going to have people coming in from all over the world," CEO John Crawford said. "We want to make sure we put our best foot forward."
His safety patrol officers work the streets year round, but they will be working overtime during Super Bowl week.
"Obviously this is a great stage for us to showcase what we do," safety officer Branden Helms said. "At the same time, this is going to be a monumental task, with over 100 events going on downtown."
Most of the safety patrols will be conducted on bicycles. The officers do not carry weapons but have radios to directly contact Dallas police.
"They are also going to serve has ambassadors to make sure they show people where to go, how to get there, make sure they feel very comfortable, so when they leave here, they have a perception of, 'Wow, Dallas is great,'" Crawford said.
