This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
AVOID BEING A SOFT TARGET ARENAS: What steps should you take? By Scott Mullen, CFE


Photo provided by Scott Mullen, CFE


It is likely just a matter of time until some kind of terrorist attack oc- curs in an arena setting here in the United States. If the attacks in Paris and Brussels revealed anything, it’s that if someone decides to enter a building with a bomb vest and automatic weapons determined to   venues harder targets. Venue managers need to take the time to evaluate building security


measures and crisis management plans. Most arenas are fairly soft tar-  make our venues safer and give additional protection to our patrons and employees. We all can make our facilities safer by taking the nec-  simulation exercises, implement emergency plans and develop crisis communication procedures. When the 9/11 attacks occurred in New York, I was then the gen-


      Dietl to perform a Threat & Risk Assessment of our property. It was a very valuable exercise that uncovered several aspects of our building and security operation that were vulnerable. I would highly recom- mend that every building undergo such an inspection. Some things were obvious and some were not. Things like the lo-


cation of the exterior air intake vents and interior return vents need to be monitored and protected from the possibility of anthrax being introduced to those areas; bollards or barriers need to be in place to prohibit vehicles that may contain explosives away from the building; recordable digital camera systems should be in place and monitored; and magnetometers/wands and bag inspection checkpoints should be utilized at all entrances. Containers where explosives could be hidden such as trash cans and newspaper vending machines should not be located in the direct proximity of any entrances or exits. More impor-  Crisis management and evacuation procedure manuals should be


 make sure all employees are aware of what to do in case of a security breach or emergency incident.    that don’t look right, they need to have a clear sense as to what to do when they see something that could potentially be a threat. I recently attended a security round table discussion at the Billboard Touring Conference in Los Angeles last November.   -


36 Facility Manager Magazine


    idea of the program is to get employees conditioned to always be on the lookout for things that are out of place or don’t seem right.   at every event, give them cards to write on and instruct them to write down anything that seemed out of place, a potential threat or some- thing that could have turned into a dangerous situation as well as any action that they would recommend to be taken. The employees can later be rewarded with something like a gift card for the employee who  potential threat. Herrera points out that after a year or so, even if you take the pro-


         identify potentially hazardous or dangerous situations and, more im- portantly, how best to react if something occurs. Instituting this type of    You See Something, Say Something” mindset amongst the employees, it also increases awareness and trains people what to say and who to say it to. The unfortunate reality is that even if all these precautions are tak-


en, it’s not likely that a security guard or ticket taker is going to be in a  that case, the only feasible deterrent is to post armed law enforcement    sure there is a way to communicate with police and emergency per- sonnel via radio. Many buildings do not have an adequate number of  to budgetary concerns but it is a necessary investment that should be made. When an incident happens, there won’t be time to run around the building looking for a supervisor or someone with a radio.   steps to provide the safest environment possible. If we do take precau- tions by using the best industry practices possible, we may be able to prevent an incident if something were about to go wrong. At the very least we can hopefully reduce injury, damage, liability and at least have the peace of mind in knowing that we did our part to prevent it. FM


Scott Mullen, CFE, is the executive director of the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. He is also the chairman of the IAVM Arena Sector Committee and serves on the IAVM VenueConnect Planning Committee.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52