CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The city of Charlotte has declared Thursday's Belk Bowl and Belk Bowl FanFest in uptown Charlotte an extraordinary event, officials announced Wednesday.
The Belk Bowl and the New Year's Eve festivities two days later are expected to draw tens of thousands of people to uptown.
The designation as an extraordinary event gives police officers more power to search people in certain areas of the city. Last year was the first time the city declared two separate extraordinary events back-to-back when both the Belk Bowl and the New Year's Eve celebration earned the status.
Security experts expect law enforcement to be extra aware, in light of recent terror attacks involving trucks and large crowds. Recent attacks in Berlin and Nice, France, have highlighted the issue.
"There has sort of been a diametric shift in how some of these terror attacks are unfolding," Walter Kimble, a security expert, said. "They seem to be without the level of planning that we used to have, specifically using vehicles."
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