Days out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Houston Mayor John Whitmire and law enforcement officials alluded to the use of surveillance drones throughout the international soccer tournament.
Repeatedly, officials stated that they weren't able to share details about the use of the drones.
"We have extra training, we have extra equipment, that's probably as far as I'm going to go with that," said Larry Satterwhite, director of the city's Public Safety and Homeland Security office. "But we are definitely leaning into everything trying to ensure a safe event. You know, the world's changing, and we have to change with it."
A Houston Public Media reporter asked Satterwhite about examples of the usage of such drones, including what they would be monitoring. He noted only that "some of [the usage] would be just like, ‘Yeah, I understand that right away,' and others maybe not."
Public safety officials from across the city say Houston, which is hosting seven World Cup matches from June 14 to July 4, is prepared to handle and staff the tournament — as well as monitoring the everyday needs of Houstonians at the same time.
"We're very prepared," Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said Tuesday. "We're over-prepared."
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During a news conference Tuesday morning, officials from across the city's public safety frontline attested to much of the city's preparations.
"Public safety was our highest priority before FIFA, during FIFA, and it’ll be after FIFA," Whitmire said. "But it’s much more than just law and order. It’s public health, it’s transportation, it’s collaboration with our state partners."
Whitmire, flanked by representatives from his administration, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and affiliates of the World Cup host committee in Houston, said preparations for the tournament have been going on for at least the last two years.
"The matches will occur on the fields, but the legacy for this event will be the collaboration, the preparedness that we have," Diaz said.
The Houston Police Department, which will be the lead law enforcement agency through the tournament, will be fully staffed for the entirety of the World Cup, Diaz said.
Asked if the longevity of the tournament — three weeks separate Houston's first match on June 14 from its seventh and final match on July 4 — is an inhibiting factor to law enforcement, Diaz said that wasn't a concern.
"The strain happens to us every day," he said. "We’re tough people here at the police department. We’re real good at the hard things. So, we’re focused on making sure that everyone is safe. ... We're always in an operational capacity."
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The Houston Fire Department, too, said it plans to be fully staffed in order to respond both to the World Cup as well as the daily calls Houstonians make.
"All hands on deck from the fire side, along with all the stakeholders that we've had," Houston Fire Chief Thomas Muñoz said Tuesday. "Covering every aspect of EMS and fire services along with, as I mentioned before, our partners that are going to be working with us side by side to ensure a safe event."
Muñoz noted the tournament will be taking place during the early stages of hurricane season; as well as noting that Houston's final match will take place on July 4, the same afternoon as Freedom Over Texas, the annual July 4 celebration in Houston, headlined this year by Keith Urban.
Houston will also be the base camp for the Democratic Republic of Congo's soccer team. In their home country, an outbreak of Ebola has prompted U.S. travel restrictions and international scrutiny, but local officials say they are not concerned about the risk of Ebola in the city.
Instead, Houston Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Tran stated the biggest concerns for the World Cup are heat-related illnesses, food-borne illnesses and vaccine-preventable diseases.
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"For heat-related illnesses, please make sure that you’re staying hydrated," Tran said. "If you’re starting to feel weak or tired, dehydrated, or having cramps, get yourself into a place of safety, which in our case is somewhere with air conditioning or shade and get hydrated and call for help. ... As far as food-borne illnesses and vaccine-preventable diseases, hygiene is still key."
The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11 in Mexico City. Houston is one of several host cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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