Texas’ Capital Increases Security in Time for SXSW

Texas' Capital Increases Security in Time for SXSW

South by Southwest (SXSW) has seen its fair share of tragedies. In 2014, an intoxicated driver drove their car into a group of people killing four and injuring almost two dozen others. This year, however, is going to be different.

South by Southwest, Austin, Texas’ annual film and music festival is set to begin on March 12 and run through the next 10 days. The capital city will see hundreds of thousands of people flow into the festival site as well as President Barack Obama, setting up an excellent excuse for determining stronger security procedures.

Sixth Street will see the biggest of changes, police say. There will be a 20 foot wide emergency lane running down the middle of East Sixth Street to help emergency vehicles get in and out. Also, this year, instead of just putting barricades around the outer perimeter of SXSW, there will be two marked patrol cars on those closed off streets to increase security.

150 to 200 police officers will be paid from a special overtime budget to control the crowd. The SXSW stress level is already high for first responders, but now it is doubling with the arrival of the President.

Police are also expecting mass amounts of traffic on Friday, March 12, the opening day of the festival and the date of President Obama’s speech. To keep too many drivers from seeing red, the city’s traffic management system will be looking for bottlenecks and redirecting officers to the worst of them. Even with the increase in staffing, the city says driver’s expectations should be low.

Another change this year is that the no-refusal period will be the longest APD has ever enforced. It will cover the entire 10-day festival.


About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • Just as Expected

    GSX produced a wonderful tradeshow earlier this week. Monday was surprisingly strong in the morning, and the afternoon wasn’t bad at all. That’s Monday’s results and asking attendees to travel on Sunday. Just a quick hint, no one wants to give up their weekend to travel and set up an exhibit booth. I’m just saying. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • Allied Universal Report Highlights Expected Security Hazards

    All is not well with the world. I know that is not breaking news. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • NOLA: The Crescent City

    Twenty years later we finds ourselves in New Orleans. Twenty years ago the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina forced exhibitors and attendees to look elsewhere for tradeshow floor space. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • Nothing Artificial About this Intelligence

    I have been looking forward to this year’s GSX show in New Orleans, the Cresent City, or if you prefer The Big Easy. It seems like quite a while since we’ve been here. Twenty years ago, ASIS, as it was known then was literally washed out of the city by someone known as Katrina. It is a good thing to come back to NOLA. Read Now

  • From Monitors to Mission Control

    Security Operations Centers (SOC) were once defined by rows of static monitors, each displaying a single feed with operators quietly watching for issues. That model has become obsolete. Incidents evolve too quickly, data comes from multiple locations, and decisions must be made in seconds—not minutes. Read Now

New Products

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.