By admin 
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The FBI is speaking about the challenges they faced during the World Cup in Los Angeles and the lessons learned that will be applied to the upcoming Super Bowl and LA 28 Olympics.
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While millions of people soaked in every World Cup moment in Los Angeles, behind the scenes, the FBI was working around the clock to make sure that all Americans and tourists were safe.
“Back at our headquarters, we hosted an international cooperation center, where we housed over 400 domestic and foreign intelligence and law enforcement agencies, where we coordinated with each other across all of the cities and venues about threats and updates that were going on at each of the locations,” Patrick Grandy said.
Grandy is the Assistant Director in Charge at the FBI Los Angeles Office.
He says the biggest issue the team faced during the World Cup involved drones.
Nationwide, more than 700 drones were seized for violating temporary flight restrictions. In Los Angeles, 59 drones were seized.
But overall, Grandy says the World Cup was a success for law enforcement.
“We finished the 39-day-long event with no major events that occurred,” Grandy said.
Now, the team is looking ahead to the Super Bowl this upcoming February at SoFi Stadium and the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic games, which are expected to bring more than 10 million visitors to the L.A. region.
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Olympics will be the largest national security special event in the history of this country,” Grandy said. “With the number of events that we are going to have and the vast region that we have to cover, it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s something that I think we’re up to.”
Grandy says some of the biggest concerns are weaponized and careless use of drones, lone offenders, human trafficking and cyber threats.
Now that the World Cup is over, the prep work for the two major events is already underway.
“We’re excited, and we’re looking forward to working with our partners and the events to put on a great show for Los Angeles and the world,” Grandy said.
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