San Francisco beefs up security in anticipation of Super Bowl celebrations
(CBS News) Police in San Francisco canceled scheduled days off for its officers as the city prepares to root for the 49ers in Sunday's Super Bowl.
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Patrols have been beefed up and authorities are on high alert after the disruptions that occurred after the city's baseball team won the World Series three months ago.
Those fires taught police that small details can make a big difference. "Somebody lost track of the fact that it was garbage night. So there was just a lot of fuel at the curb," San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said.
So on Sunday, trash collectors like Beto Castellanous will make one run before the game and another after, turning them into first responders. "You can call us that like firefighters in a way." he said.
City emergency rooms, already busy dealing with the flu outbreak, have added doctors and nurses anticipating rowdy crowds on game day.
"We all support our 49ers, and we are delighted they are in the Super Bowl, so that's fabulous," said Dr. Tom Pietz, the director of the California Pacific Medical Center. "Couldn't have come at the worse time of the year," he joked.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is putting pressure on bars to keep patrons in line. "People do deserve to kinda unleash all of their celebratory mood," he said. "At the same time, you gotta be respectful of the businesses that are here."
But sports bar owner Cyril Hackett says the mayor's call for moderation goes too far.
"He did say the bars should turn down their taps and serve something other than hard liquor," said Hackett. "What do you serve instead of hard liquor? Milk? He might be paid by the milk board to say that. I don't think we will we serving much milk here."
However, some things will be a little different at Hackett's sports bar. It's almost like child proofing the place for the game. Beer will be served in plastic cups, rather than glasses. But no one in the pub should expect to be toasting the 49ers with milk.