Mark McCormack, Senior Manager, Global & National Accounts, Axis Communications and Adam Stockwell, Senior Vice President, Safety & Security, Fiserv Forum discuss sports venue security for political events.

Venue security for political events

Venue security teams are used to hosting large gatherings like concerts and sporting events, but political events can be a different animal.

Excitement prevails and tensions often run high during these gatherings – both for attendees and, all too often, those protesting nearby.

While security is a top-level concern at any event, political events carry an extra layer of importance.

Whether the event in question is a local rally or a large-scale political convention, keeping candidates running for higher office safe and secure is a major responsibility.

Fortunately, venue security teams are extremely good at their jobs – and modern surveillance and security technology has provided them with more resources than ever.

By leveraging advanced solutions and establishing strong communication and collaboration practices with law enforcement agencies, venue security teams can make the process of securing these events as straightforward as possible.

What sets political events apart

From a coordination standpoint, political events offer unique challenges.

Most venues already have a working relationship with local law enforcement officials, but the arrival of political figures often necessitates greater cooperation with state and federal agencies.

For presidential candidates, it likely means working with the US Secret Service.

While the availability of additional security resources can be a good thing, it can also come with challenges: the presence of multiple law enforcement agencies, each with its own command structure and set of priorities, can create jurisdictional challenges that need to be worked out in advance.

It’s also important to consider the heightened threat level surrounding a political event.

That’s not to say that concerts and sporting events don’t come with significant security challenges, but while a fight in the crowd or an excited concertgoer rushing the stage certainly needs to be dealt with, these incidents don’t have the same implications as politically motivated violence.

The two attempts on former president Donald Trump’s life during the 2024 presidential campaign underscore just how high the stakes can be – and the first attempt occurred just days before the Republican National Convention (RNC).

Fiserv Forum, which hosted the convention, had the unenviable challenge of keeping thousands of attendees – including state delegates, politicians, celebrities and other VIPs – safe just days after a credible threat on a candidate’s life.

Fortunately, the venue’s security team was up to the task.

The first assassination attempt on the former president highlighted another security challenge: crowd dynamics and the need to control ingress and egress points.

Some political rallies take place outdoors and these are significantly more difficult to control than indoor events.

Stadiums and arenas have a set number of entrance and exit points, and each can be tightly controlled by security personnel.

This is not always the case for outdoor events, which often rely on temporary barriers and other impermanent obstacles.

Once they enter through a designated entry point, attendees can generally move freely throughout the space, making their movements more difficult to predict.

Communications and coordination

For standard events, security teams usually work with police departments, fire departments and other local groups – but higher profile events might require venues to coordinate with state police, the FBI, DHS, Secret Service or even specialized agencies like the TSA.

With multiple law enforcement agencies involved, establishing a clear communications plan is critical.

Who, ultimately, is in charge – and what are the limits of that authority?

It’s critical for venue security teams to host meetings with any and all security partners to establish lines of communication and areas of responsibility.

Venues usually have representatives from local police and fire departments in the operations center for standard events, but for large format events, public safety partners will often add an onsite multiagency command post to run operations throughout the location – especially if elements of the event will take place on the exterior of the building.

Large political events (or even a major sporting event or concert) may even activate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at police headquarters to streamline higher-level coordination of city-wide assets.

This ensures there is a centralized structure to help route communications and direct resources where they are needed as quickly as possible.

It’s important to recognize that these outside agencies do not take over the venue’s operations center – they add to it.

Operations within the venue are run as they would be for a traditional, non-political event, with the arena security director or event security manager engaged in all their usual responsibilities.

Likewise, in the event of an emergency response, public safety partners would make decisions as they relate to public safety, just as they usually would.

While federal partners like the FBI or Secret Service have their own security operations to run, they are done in conjunction with venue partners.

Adopting a layered approach to security

The technology used to secure political events is generally the same technology used to secure standard events – but it’s important to understand the tools security teams have at their disposal.

Video surveillance solutions – unsurprisingly – play a major role here, allowing security and law enforcement personnel to have eyes and ears throughout the venue.

As devices have become more advanced, many are equipped with video analytics capable of automatically detecting suspicious activity like aggressive behavior, loitering or even the presence of a weapon.

Facial recognition also plays a more important role at political events, as it can be used to detect known threat actors or persons of interest before they can disrupt the event – or worse.

Modern video analytics can also help identify abandoned items.

This technology is widely in use at airports, where detecting suspicious packages is a high priority, and it can be leveraged here to identify a backpack or duffel bag that could contain weapons, explosives or other dangerous items.

What’s more, because today’s analytics can use metadata to tag and categorize people and objects, security teams can find a suspicious person in seconds with the help of just a few search terms (“red shirt,” “sunglasses,” etc).

In the past, security teams would have had to manually comb through dozens of different camera feeds in the hope of finding the target.

Magnetometers and X-ray machines also play a significant role in securing these events.

While these are also a relatively standard element of stadium and event security, the ability to detect a firearm or other weapon is obviously of paramount importance at a political event.

Similarly, it is important for visitors to see a visible police presence, with uniformed officers stationed throughout the space.

Regular sweeps with K-9 units can also help deter would-be wrongdoers by making the presence of law enforcement as clear and visible as possible.

Security stations at entry points, a strong police presence throughout the location and advanced surveillance solutions enable a layered approach to security that helps ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

For a venue planning to host a major political event, this approach is invaluable.

Remaining focused on the mission

The steps for success are straightforward.

Venue security teams must meet and coordinate with all stakeholders long before the events take place.

They must be process-driven, methodical and deliberate in their approach.

Advance preparation will put all parties involved in the right place to respond to any potential incidents during the event.

Incidents will happen – no event has ever gone 100% smoothly from start to finish.

However, adequate preparation can prevent security teams from being taken by surprise, putting them in the best position to respond swiftly, appropriately and successfully.

Political events are serious business and the fallout from a security incident can be dire.

Everyone involved must check their egos at the door and remain focused on the mission at hand.

By putting the right people, processes and technology in place and establishing effective communication and cooperation practices, security and law enforcement teams can effectively mitigate risks and keep VIPs, attendees and venue staff as protected and secure as possible.

This article was originally published in the November edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.