SecureU - University of Southern Mississippi Serves as Model for College Stadium Security

Campus Security

Published: 12/25/07

University of Southern Mississippi Serves as Model for College Stadium Security
From "Stadium Security Worries Experts" Sports Illustrated: Amid concerns that terrorists may eventually target a sports venue in the United States, the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Center for Spectator Sports Security Management has received a $3.5 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to conduct training seminars nationwide to certify security professionals in stadium security. Experts say that college athletic events, which draw tens if not hundreds of millions of spectators each year, provide an easy target. Yet research by the USM center shows that most schools have never conducted an emergency evacuation drill or a threat assessment at their sporting venues. The research also found that 62 percent of NCAA schools outsource security management at sporting events.

According to Jim McGee, an ex-FBI counterterrorism agent and now an instructor at the USM center, the best security plan involves a buffer zone around a stadium or arena, a hard shell at the fence and, perhaps most importantly, enough trained personnel inside a facility to divide a crowd into small groups for monitoring purposes. At USM's M.M. Roberts Stadium, each section has its own observer, and each three sections is assigned one security supervisor. Also, an emergency operations center is run by the campus police and all relevant parties are patched into a communications network for quick response. McGee stresses the need to train not only security guards but everyone working at sports venues, including ticket takers and ushers, and says the credentials of service or goods providers must be individually verified.

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