Big events, bigger risks: How teams keep large events safe

When the Atlanta Falcons play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, there may be 70,000-plus fans on hand to see the action.

“We’re basically a small city,” said Joe Coomer, Vice President of Security at AMB Sports and Entertainment, which is comprised of the NFL Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United FC. “My frontline security staff is over 500, augmented by another 150 police officers on the inside and 150 police officers on the outside, and then a 40-person medical team to assist.”

From mega-conventions to sporting contests, big events present big challenges to security teams. And it’s getting harder, with social-media misinformation and an increasingly hostile public complicating the picture. At the same time, technology advances are giving security teams an edge.

Disruptive Trends

A number of recent trends are disrupting event security. That includes a rising frequency of misinformation — rumors that can impact public behaviors, Coomer said.

“At a previous venue I worked out west, we did a large international soccer game where misinformation was being shared on social media that the sheriff’s department was checking IDs for targeted demographics,” he said. “It wasn’t true, but it had a negative impact on the fans attending, as well as the workforce being employed for the event.”

In another instance, security had to head off a potential frenzy when a rumor circulated that a controversial presidential candidate was going to be dropping by an event. “The candidate was not coming, so we had to disrupt that train of thought, we had to clean up,” Coomer said.

In addition to addressing the online rumor mill, security professionals also have to contend with a change in the public mood. People are less tolerant these days, quicker to get angry.

“Ever since Covid, there has been a change in the behavior of patrons,” said Earl Biggett, M.Sc., CPD, CPP, ILO, Security & Transportation Administrator in the Security, Parking & Transportation Division at the massive Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

That public mood shift impacts how security operates at a big event. “We have to remember: Patience and understanding. We’re not a police force. We don’t put cuffs on,” he said. “We want people to want to come back to the facility and have a pleasant experience.”

Emerging technologies, and some reliable best practices, help security professionals to deliver that “pleasant experience,” while still keeping big events secure.

Technological Improvements

The Orlando convention center’s biggest annual event, MEGACON ORLANDO, can draw upwards of 183,000 people over four days. Biggett leans heavily on technology to manage those crowds.

“We want to make sure we don’t put too many people in the hall, which can cause an actual hazard if people are trying to get out, trying to escape,” he said. To that end, he’s recently begun installing ‘people counters’ in the halls.

“It’s a downward-facing device and as you pass a threshold either way, it counts you — either going in or coming out,” he said. When spaces are getting too crowded, security can limit the flow.

The first step in preparing for any event is conducting a thorough risk assessment of the designated venue to identify potential hazards or security vulnerabilities.”

Biggett also is using Knightscope, an autonomous patrolling robot. “It’s designed to augment the security personnel. The robot has a 360-degree camera and it alerts you when someone’s in an area where they shouldn’t be,” he said. “You might say that from midnight until six a.m., there should be nobody on the back docks. When it’s patrolling, if it picks somebody up in that area, it takes a snapshot of the person and sends an alert to the command post.”

Coomer likewise is tapping tech tools, for example with the use of frictionless security screening.

Previous generations of magnetometers would alert for belt buckles or medical metallics. “We saw a 23 to 25 percent alert rate, so there was a consistent source of friction and ended up being a negative interaction and experience for fans,” he said.

Newer frictionless technology “can be very specific and very smart about the objects that are being detected. The technology looks for things that may resemble a gun barrel or if there is enough metal to be a makeup of a gun or knife,” he said. Alert rates are down to around six to eight percent.

Experts say such tools work best when leveraged in conjunction with the basic block-and-tackle of event security.

“The first step in preparing for any event is conducting a thorough risk assessment of the designated venue to identify potential hazards or security vulnerabilities,” said Rosby Jones, Director of Security, National Event Operations at Lincoln Security Services, which manages more than 50 events annually. Attendance ranges from 5,000 to 22,000 and clients include the American Heart Association and the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS).

“This assessment considers the venue’s infrastructure, crowd management strategies, and threats from natural disasters and medical emergencies,” Jones said. The assessment helps security teams to plan for the event, taking into account “the venue’s access control procedures, emergency response plans, and technological capabilities.”

Those emergency response plans in particular are “a critical element” of event security, he said. The plan should include protocols for fire, medical, natural disasters, and security threats, along with protocols for evacuation procedures and medical support.

And there needs to be an emergency-comms strategy as well. Digital signage for example “is essential to ensure clear communication” in the event of an emergency, he said.

It’s worth digging deeper into this question of communication, which is essential not just in an emergency but in all aspects of big-event security.

Communication & Collaboration

In Coomer’s organization, mass-communication solutions help to support “a culture of communication,” he said.

“We use a program called Everbridge, a communication tool tailored to communicate with all associates should there be an incident. When we get into those times of emergencies or challenges, we can push out notifications to everybody,” he said. “We can notify all of our associates, all the way up to our executives and our leadership: Hey, we have a tornado warning. We’re in shelter-in-place mode. Please move your positions.”

Those communications efforts need to extend beyond the security personnel and venue staff, to encompass all the partner organizations that support the security effort. That may include not just the security team, but also law enforcement and emergency personnel.

To keep all those parties connected, “it is crucial to outline the communication protocol,” said John Krivulka, vice president of event security services at Lincoln Security Services. “Clear, distinct, and ongoing communication ensures that all partners are on the same page and will react appropriately when needed.”

Biggett actually has a part of his security team dedicated to doing just that. “We have individuals called event security liaisons. They’re specifically tied into the event, to act as a conduit between the actual event, the client, and security,” he said.

That coordinated effort really goes to the heart of the way in which many security professionals approach a big-event situation. They say it takes a collaborative approach to ensure tens of thousands of people have an experience that’s both pleasant and safe.

“All of this this is team driven,” Biggett said.

“When we start planning and preparing for events, there’s no one segment that does it all. It’s a team effort between event management, housekeeping, facility maintenance. Everybody has a part to play, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI,” he said. “It’s one big team trying to make sure that everything’s good to go.”