Police Department New Year’s Events Report
The following report is contributed by Eugene Harris, Chief of Police.
The Pasadena Police Department and the Tournament of Roses continue to improve security operations to ensure a safe Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game for spectators and employees alike. The Pasadena Police Department’s Counter-Terrorism Unit coordinated with Federal, State, County, and local assets to deploy specialized units to assist with the overall security of the 2026 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game operations. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), who is responsible for providing Special Event Assessment Ratings (“SEAR”) for all major events throughout the United States, has classified Pasadena’s New Year’s events as a SEAR Level-1 operation.
The city benefited from DHS’s SEAR Level-1 designation. DHS continued to provide in-kind federal resources with personnel, equipment and technology. Such technology and equipment provided by federal partners included drone mitigation systems, Infrastructure Visualization Platforms (“IVP”) to conduct parade route mapping, X-Ray Image vehicles which were deployed at the Rose Bowl, and BioWatch, which is an early warning system that can detect trace amounts of biological agents.
Federal agencies that supported the operation included:
• Federal Bureau of Investigations
• Transportation Security Administration
• Department of Homeland Security
• US Customs and Border Protection
• United States Secret Service
• Homeland Security Investigations
• Department of Energy
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
• United States Army
• United States Marine Corps
• United States Coast Guard
Each of the federal agencies supported the event operations by providing uniformed and non-uniformed officers and/or explosive detection K9’s.
A Threat Assessment and Response Team (“TART”) was implemented during Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game related events as an onsite fusion center for intelligence. The mission of the TART was to ensure public safety by detecting and defeating any attempt to disrupt the Rose Parade or Rose Bowl Game through comprehensive planning, accurate intelligence gathering, and careful coordination among all Law Enforcement components involved. The TART working in conjunction with the Multi-Agency Command Center (“MACC”). Components of the TART Included the following:
• Intelligence Gathering and Dissemination
• LASD HAZMAT / CBRN Detection Teams
• FBI, DOE WMD Detection Teams
• Explosive Detection Teams
• Bio Watch
• DHS Critical Infrastructure Imaging of the Parade Route
Components of the TART (listed above) were staged and were ready for deployment.
In addition to the assistance from federal resources, Pasadena Police Officers and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputies conducted foot and vehicle patrols along the entire parade route.
Archer 1200 Barriers were utilized to close the parade route to vehicle traffic. The Archer 1200’s contracted through Meridian Barriers and is currently the only anti-vehicle device rated by the Department of Homeland Security as effective in vehicle mitigation. Meridian began to deploy the barriers in the middle of December, staging them at the intersections where they would be deployed to close Colorado Blvd. Water barricades were utilized to secure commercial and private driveways that had access onto Colorado Blvd.
Rose Parade:
The Rose Parade began promptly at 8:00 a.m. despite the rain. Dayside parade operations are conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (“LASD”) with nearly 800 LASD personnel on the parade route. The first parade entry reached the conclusion point at approximately 10:00am. LASD personnel conducted the demobilization of the parade route before redeploying resources to Float Fest. Attendance is estimated to be 600,000.
Incidents/Arrests
• PC 245a- Assault with a deadly weapon (12:30 a.m.) Male adult in custody Suspect stuck victim with metal chair after an argument. Victim sustained minor injury, declined medical aid
• Several protest groups were along the parade during the parade and were proactively contacted by LASD response teams. None of the groups impacted the parade movement
• Rising Together Float- individuals riding on the float displayed a sign regarding Eaton Fire. Sign was removed by Tournament of Roses Officials who will handle the incident internally
Rose Bowl Game:
The Rose Bowl game reported 70,581 fans in attendance. The event ran smoothly with no major incidents. Parking lots were opened by 4 a.m. The golf lots were heavily impacted due to rain. Dodger Stadium was utilized as an additional shuttle depot/parking. Gates opened at 10:30 a.m. for general admission. Ingress traffic was steady and well managed by traffic personnel. “Plan B” parking operations were in effect and the neighborhoods were utilized for parking. The game began at 1:10 p.m. ending at approximately 4:40 p.m. Outbound traffic was completed at approximately 6:30 pm.
Incidents/Arrests
• PC 647f- Public Intoxication – Male adult arrest
• PC 211- Robbery -Male adult in custody. Suspect took hat from a female adult bandmembers head and fled. Victim gave chase. Suspect was apprehended by security and taken into custody. Victim was treated at scene with minor injury
Float Fest:
Float Fest viewing provides the opportunity for the public to see the floats up close. At the end of the Parade, the floats are parked on Sierra Madre Blvd. and Washington Blvd. next to Pasadena High School. This year, Float Fest occurred on January 1st through January 3rd. El Monte Police Department augmented our police efforts on January 2nd and 3rd.
Daily attendance:
Day 1 – 10,346
Day 2 – 21,343
Day 3 – 11,021
