When six Grand Rapids Public Schools public safety officers signed on to keep kids safe in Grand Rapids, they probably never thought that the job would take them to the biggest stage in professional sports.
That's exactly what's happening, though, for a handful GRPS officers, including the Executive Director of Public Safety, Larry Johnson. They'll be inside Lucas Oil Stadium this weekend working alongside NFL security patrolling the Super Bowl.
GRPS says that NFL Security invited the GRPS Public Safety crew because of their good reputation and because of Homeland Security training that Johnson and his team provides to GRPS and other public and private schools.
The GRPS team will work with NFL Security. They will be responsible for supervising security teams on Saturday during the many VIP events leading up to the game, but they will also be on the field during the game itself on Sunday.
The GRPS officers picked along with Larry Johnson include James Stokes, Christina Johnson, Faustino Garcia, Arnell Fleming and Tamara Robinson. The group has spent several weekends in Indianapolis preparing for this security detail.
