An Entertainment District
The expanding role of sports arenas’ security
- By Mark McCormack
- Aug 07, 2020
Remember classic stadiums like
Wrigley Field, Chicago’s old
baseball park, or Forbes Field,
the old baseball and football
park in Pittsburgh? On game day, fans
were throwing tailgate parties in the parking
lot, then heading into the stadium to
cheer on their teams. Once the game was
over and fans left the park, security locked
up and the venue went dark until the next
home game.
Those venues represent a bygone era.
Today’s arenas have become an entertainment
district designed to not only capitalize
on game day crowds but draw traffic
seven days a week to adjacent bars, restaurants,
concerts and other attractions both
in and around the stadium.
This transformation has dramatically
changed the role of venue security
teams. Before, staff was only responsible
for the safety and protection of the
stadium, the fans and the players during
the sporting event. Now the job is 24/7
and their sphere of responsibility often
encompasses the entire surrounding
entertainment district.
STEPPING UP
SECURITY OPERATIONS
In recognition of this new reality, stadiums
have been making a concerted effort
to upgrade and streamline security
operations to better ensure the safety of
the thousands of people on and around
their properties on any given day or night.
They’re not only keeping a watchful eye
on what’s happening in the arena and in
the stands, but they’re also monitoring the
concession concourse and retail kiosks,
private boxes and VIP suites as well as
areas like player/performer/employee entrances,
ticket gates, loading docks, parking
lots and activity in the surrounding
plaza. As an example:
The United Center, replaced the old Chicago Stadium built in 1929, creating
a safe environment has meant building
an in-house command center to monitor
hundreds of high-resolution network cameras
in and around the stadium. The fully
integrated, enterprise-level system is built
on open standards and designed to grow
with them, an important feature since they
recently added a large entertainment addition
to their site.
The solution allows operators to observe
early warning signs of incidents in
real time and quickly dispatch security
staff to the location to mitigate problems
before they escalate. It also allows operators
to broadcast messages over the PA
system to spectators, athletes, performers
and employees as needed. Management is
also using the sophisticated surveillance
system to confirm employee time and attendance
and verify vendor deliveries at
the loading docks in case of any discrepancies.
The Fiserv Forum, replaced the aging
Bradley Center in Milwaukee, being in the
heart of Deer District has meant not only
handling security for the new arena but
also overseeing security for the 30-acre entertainment
district that surrounds it. Like
the United Center, Fiserv Forum built an
in-house operations center for viewing the
hundreds of high-resolution network cameras
blanketing the stadium and the plaza.
They have grouped the cameras into
quadrants to enable security staff, department
managers and local response agencies
to see multiple viewpoints of an area
simultaneously. The additional situational
awareness has given security the tools it
needs to detect problems and respond in
real-time to fluid conditions like bottlenecks
at the entrance gates, sudden medical
emergencies on the plaza and hit-andrun
accidents outside the arena.
The high-traffic American Airlines
Center, replaced the aging Reunion Arena
in Dallas, is run like a small city. Security
staff is on call 24/7 whether the venue is
hosting professional basketball and hockey
games, major concerts, conferences
or other events. A sophisticated array of
high-resolution network cameras covers
the entire complex from the sports arena
to the retail shops, restaurants and concession
stands to the VIP suites, multi-tiered
concourses, elevators, escalators, garage
and parking lots.
Using cameras with advanced technologies
like wide angle views, wide dynamic
range and built-in IR illumination, security
can monitor more area with greater image clarity – whether the area under observation is in bright
sunlight, dark shadow or only lit by emergency lights. The increased
situational awareness gives security visual evidence they
need to quickly resolve issues like stolen property and customer
service disputes.
Because of the preponderance of surveillance cameras facing
both inwards and out at these venues, there’s a lot of reciprocity
with local law enforcement who often requests venue share footage
to help in criminal investigations and prosecutions. In return,
law enforcement often alert security about persons of interest in
the area such as celebrity stalkers, individuals on a most-wanted
list or other known troublemakers.
ADDING NEW TOOLS TO
IMPROVE SECURITY AND MITIGATE RISKS
Many venues have begun integrating other tools with their
surveillance cameras to help their security force improve their
situational awareness and response time even as their entertainment
district continues to expand.
For instance, they’re adding video analytics like license plate
recognition to identify vehicles in parking facilities or traveling on
surrounding roads. They’re integrating their cameras with panic
buttons throughout the stadium and parking lots to enable security
to quickly locate the emergency, assess its nature and dispatch assistance
to the exact location. They are tying cameras equipped with
motion detection to audio systems that can automatically broadcast
a warning to anyone attempting to enter the stadium after hours.
They’re augmenting their cameras with facial recognition software
and tying them to the stadium’s access control system to
verify the person using the keycard or badge matches the face in
the database. They’re adding sophisticated search algorithms to
the video management systems to spot suspicious packages and
expedite searches for lost objects and people.
They’re incorporating audio analytics like gunshot detection
to trigger active shooter protocols like automatically placing a
call to local law enforcement. They are even tying their cameras
into their mass communication systems and electronic signage to
maintain safety during emergency evacuations.
This is just a sampling of ways venues are integrating their
technologies to enhance the overall safety and security of their
entertainment districts.
TRAINING STAFF IN SECURITY BEST PRACTICES
While technology is certainly an important part of the security
equation, so is staff training. Given the growing complexity
of threats to entertainment districts, security staff are being challenged
to know a lot more than simply how to monitor cameras
and search and review video.
To that end, many sports venues are turning to the National
Center for Spectator Sports and Safety (NCS4) for guidance. The
national research center provides the U.S. sports industry with a
wealth of resources and learning opportunities about the latest advances
in stadium security solutions and industry best practices.
NCS4 not only conducts thought leadership summits and networking
opportunities for venue security managers, it also offers
professional certification programs, hands-on workshops and
evacuation training exercises for stadium personnel. Stadiums
can contract with NCS4 to conduct venue security and safety assessments
to help them target improvements to their security programs.
As an added service to the sports venue community, NCS4
operates a National Sports Security Laboratory where they test,
evaluate and validate technology solutions.
What makes NCS4 so invaluable is its ability to provide a way
for professional sports and event venue managers, professional
associations, security products manufacturers, first responders
and government agencies to connect and share experiences and
recommendations that can improve the safety and security of every
spectator venue across the country.
EMBRACING A NEW ERA
FOR SPORTS VENUE SECURITY
While entertainment districts hold great appeal for investors,
they raise complex challenges for security staff. Security has gone
from a game day task to a 24/7 operation, making increased
situational awareness of paramount importance. We’re seeing
technology systems burgeoning into sophisticated, enterprisewide
solutions able to monitor both the sports complex and the
surrounding entertainment district as it continues to grow. With
larger areas to protect and a wider array of surveillance tools to
master, ongoing training in current industry
best practices will be the key to effectively confronting
today’s dynamic threat landscape.
This article originally appeared in the July / August 2020 issue of Security Today.