By the Numbers: What We Learned About the 2017 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game

Virtually every Pasadena City Department played extensive, interconnecting roles in the 2017 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game, in ways that most residents may never even realize.

Pasadena’s trash collectors hauled out over 85 tons of trash after the events. Out of these, the City’s Department of Public Works recycled 40 tons of cardboard and 8,500 beverage containers from those areas, a summary report of the 2017 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game from the City’s Department of Public Works said.

The Public Works Department was one of six City departments that submitted reports of their 2017 Tournament of Roses preparations and post-event operations to the City Manager in the first week of the year.  In combination the result this year was nearly flawless, “successfully staged” and marred by “no major incidents,” the Pasadena City Manager’s office said this week.

The reports, including those from the Pasadena Police Department, Pasadena Fire Department, Pasadena Water and Power, Department of Public Health and the Department of Information Technology, led the City Manager’s office to conclude the 2017 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game “were successfully staged and there were no major incidents,” according to the weekly City Manager’s newsletter.

For the cleanup, Public Works Director Ara Maloyan said they used 112 workers, eight dump trucks, eight skip loaders or backhoes, eight sweepers, three packers and 10 pick-up trucks to clean up the parade area and adjacent streets before and after the Rose Parade. The workers also hand swept gutters along the route after the parade, the report said.

Maloyan’s report provided details of the preparations and post-event activities including street maintenance and waste management operations, removal and re-installation of traffic signaling equipment, temporary painting of demarcation lines for viewing areas and parade route lines, and safety and security-related work including the installation of security cameras for law enforcement agencies.

Public Works also ran a back-up Emergency Operations Center and assisted law enforcement with their remote communication needs and vehicle-parking requirements.

“Post-event activities will continue through mid-January as the department reinstalls street light poles and traffic signal mast arms, removes parking signs, barricades, uncovers catch basins, and deconstructs asphalt ramps,” Maloyan said in the report.

The Pasadena Police Department said 95,128 fans attended the Rose Bowl Game and saw how stringent security measures were during the event. The fans had to pass through metal detectors at every entry gate.

In a report prepared by Pasadena police Lt. Art Chute, the department said they had to move the Fan Zone to the north side of the Rose Bowl for the pre-screening process. The procedures did not cause any significant delay in the entry of fans into the stadium, saying the fan zone expansion led to the success of 90 percent of the fans being inside the stadium at kickoff.

Chute’s report said “with over 95,000 people in attendance, there were only 10 arrests throughout the game, all of which were for public intoxication.”

At the Rose Parade area, officers made seven arrests overnight and two during the parade for a total of nine arrests, all of which were alcohol related, said the report.

The report also said Department of Homeland Security personnel installed about 38 surveillance cameras along the parade route and at the post-parade areas. Some 143 Homeland Security investigators and support staff were also present at various areas during the event, it said.

Pasadena police officers, DHS, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and other federal and state law enforcement personnel conducted foot patrols in all the areas in both uniformed and undercover capacities, the report said.

Pasadena Fire Chief Bertral Washington said firefighters from eight fire stations in the City responded to 95 incidents from 7 p.m. of January 1 and 7:30 p.m. of January 2. These included 11 fire, 77 medical, and six service responses, and one “miscellaneous” response. Of the 77 medical incidents, six were traffic collisions, Washington said.

Washington added their Fire Department Emergency Operating Center (DOC) opened at 7 p.m. on January 1 co-located with the Pasadena Police Department DOC.

Washington also cited the assistance provided by fire departments from Los Angeles city and county, Glendale, Burbank, Santa Monica, San Gabriel, San Marino, and South Pasadena in the fire and life-saving response operations.

Other agencies that assisted include the Pasadena Fire Emergency Medical Services Reserves (EMSR), Los Angeles County Health Services Department, Ambuserve ambulance services, the American Red Cross, California National Guard’s 9th Civil Support Team, DHS Medic Alert Center and the state Office of Emergency Services.

Pasadena Water and Power said its crews performed maintenance work and tested electrical equipment at the Rose Bowl weeks before the New Year event. During the parade and the Rose Bowl Game, power delivery personnel were stationed at strategic areas to assist in any electrical emergency.

PWP’s Water Division also supported preparations and post-parade activities by assisting in bus bench removal and replacement, debris collection and area rinse of the parade area, the report said.

Pasadena Public Health Director Michael Johnson reported their health personnel encountered 21 illegal food vendors, 14 of whom ran from their team and seven receiving either warning notices or citations. Environmental health staff inspected 120 approved food booths from the float decorating event up to the post-parade float viewing event.

The health department, working with regional and national agencies, also conducted enhanced disease surveillance throughout the event in an effort to avoid a significant disease outbreak, the report said.

The City’s Department of Information Technology handled ticket payment and distribution at both the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game events, and supported public safety and other City operations, Chief Information Officer Phillip Leclair said in his department’s report.

“DoIT worked with City Council Field Representatives to enhance the Online Ticketing System for processing Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game tickets allocated to City staff, Council Districts and Commissions,” Leclair said. “Ticket inventory, lottery processing, distribution, notifications, payments and reporting were managed by the system. “

The department also installed and configured fiber optics, wireless network connections and radio services in support of public safety operations and visiting law enforcement agencies.

“DoIT staff set up and configured the City’s Emergency Operating Center (EOC) with telephones, radio equipment, cable television,  laptops and network equipment,” the report said.

The department provided similar services to the Pasadena police and fire department operation centers, and to the Threat Assessment Response Team at Public Works City Yards. Radio infrastructure teams and system administrators from DoIT were on call throughout the events to respond to any communications or IT service interruptions.

“Overall, there were no significant issues to essential information technology services reported during the weekend activities,” Leclair said.