Protecting Major Sporting Events

The World Series, the Super Bowl, as well as the Daytona 500 all are banner sporting events at major indoor/outdoor sites that draw hundreds upon hundreds of fans. It doesn’t take a security expert to realize that these venues are prime targets for a terrorist attack especially due to the fact that these are amongst the most popular sports in America today. To ensure that fans are secure event and venue security directors nationwide continuously prepare for the worst.

NASCAR is definitely one of the hottest and fastest growing spectator sports today. On average over a hundred thousand attendees on average go to the NASCAR Nextel Cup races per event. NASCAR’s biggest events are the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They average more than four hundred thousand attendees. According to NASCAR insiders the sport currently ranks second in television viewership of all major sports behind the NFL and has combined a following of 75 million fans worldwide. The level of security must increase With NASCAR’s ever increasing popularity. One of NASCAR’s elder statesman, was quoted as saying after September 11, 2001, that he is not sure how much more terrorists know about racing but they obviously would know that everywhere the NASCAR races take place there are over a hundred thousand individuals sitting there and it would definitely make an easy target and that is why a serious security change should take place.

According to the director of security for NASCAR, NASCAR is dedicated to supply its fans with the most secure and safest properties out there. Almost all venue security administrators endorse an overall security layout in consultation with all public safety organizations with jurisdictional supervision. The attendees should not feel the slightest bit of risk or danger upon attending any of NASCAR events. Ensuring the safety of all competitors and fans is certainly amongst the highest priorities of the company. They must also be ready for unexpected and unfortunate incidents especially in the location where thousands of individuals show up.

The director of security for NASCAR for NASCAR started working with NASCAR about four years ago, after previously working with the U.S. Secret Service for more than twenty years. His work requirements include corporate surveillance issues which relate to business operations at all NASCAR facilities promotion procedures in New York City; center of operations facility in Daytona Beach, FL.; operations of broadcasting in Los Angeles; a research and development property in Concord, N.C. licensing procedures in Charlotte; and the transportation in Conover; N.C.; he also supervises NASCAR’s competition security objectives at restricted events throughout the nation.

Endless Training

Race day is always challenging even thought the preparation for a race my take months if not years.

The security director starts a normal day at around 5 a.m. at which he has to work together with the security representatives at various locations of the vast company. Almost every facility has its own specific security programs, which contain law enforcement elements from local, federal and state authorities. Ensuring that the facilities function in harmony with NASCAR protocols was his primary goal in all of his operations. He further explained that NASCAR’s common security methodology does not differ from night and day events. On average, sites are run over a four-day interval of time. The locations are normally accessible to the competitors, spectators and race teams on Thursday mornings and continue through Sunday until the final conclusion of the main event.

Restricted Management

Surveillance goals are administered with all available assets 24-hours a day and are executed before the gates finally open to the general spectators. Also, during day races their surveillance elements are well placed throughout the evening hours to answer to the vast number of attendees at their locations. Their venue security components are not affected or impacted by whether the race is run during daylight or evening.

However the synchronized efforts continue on. The security director also operates with law enforcement entities with jurisdictional experience at NASCAR sites. The directors of homeland security in each particular state where there are race competitions are also consulted. In olden times, NASCAR has a venerable tradition of having its garage, locker rooms and pit areas accessible to the spectators. With the advancement of recent security, NASCAR officials now control access to the pit and garage sites. The opportunity to access these areas has now become a restricted privilege and is protected through proper credentialing and licensing. In an effort to provide a secure environment for competitors and everyone involved NASCAR, continuously and actively, works in cooperation with event operations and venue security managers.

As the initiation moment of the event gets closer, The security director supervisees competition-sensitive locations to ensure they are entirely ready form a security stand point. These locations include the pit road areas, drivers’ motor coach compound site, and the pit/garage area. For the period of the actual event, he is usually located inside the joint law emergency /enforcement services command post which is normally sited outside of the venue seating vicinity. Transmitting all public safety data to NASCAR race officials and to executive managers compromises the main responsibility of the joint group.

Diversity of Sites

the security manager’s responsibility becomes even more complex due to the fact that is that the locations continuously change on a weekly basis. Gathering all the efforts to guarantee the security of one location can be demanding, both physically and mentally, let alone having to maintain more than twenty locations and close to forty NASCAR Nextel Cup events on a yearly basis. And this is why NASCAR heavily depends on each venue operations manager to plan, execute, and manage a viable security operation layout. Every location has its own surveillance administrator whose primary goal is to systematize all law enforcement elements. Every venue is mandated to integrate crisis management disaster layouts in coordination with all public safety and law enforcement entities that support security at each designated site.

It is obviously clear that the human component compromises the largest factor of physical surveillance at NASCAR sites. The designated security managers of the various sites must control the general flow of traffic, screening of visitors, crowd management and rapid emergency response, as well as securing the sites of the actual race.

The fundamentals of Security

Recently, securing the sites has shifted from the outermost boundaries to the innermost boundaries of in regards to pit road locations. A strong deterrent must be presented by Security officers at the gates of the facility. Furthermore, law enforcement personnel performs random vehicle searches, specifically for those entering the inside perimeters. Although today’s technology plays an important part in defeating potential attacks it still doesn’t replace the essential human element, this is due to the obvious vast size of the facility in question. Access credentials must be displayed by all persons entering NASCAR venues, with the competitors included. Every location is expected to conduct a hundred percent verification checks of all persons entering the venue including all workers, fans and press. In addition advancement in technology will assist in providing the overall surveillance coverage. In addition, due to the fact that Nextel will be sponsoring NASCAR starting this year, Nextel’s communications factor will be integrated into their general site security layout.

The security program of NASCAR is based on tested preventive techniques. Each and every NASCAR facility is made up of joint law enforcement command operations centers comprise of command level personnel. Enacting and improving the security program for each event involves constant Threat assessment, as well as training and post-event examinations. Public safety agencies are also given a copy of the Post-action event reviews. The security manger of the facility is also capable of mobilizing assets necessary to address any and potential incidents, which may effect a certain competition. Fortunately, the general public and spectators have been receptive to the elevated security initiatives at NASCAR facilities especially after the 9-11 tragic events.

The fundamental idea all over NASCAR’s security dealings rotates around the never-ending process of Venue security at the various NASCAR facilities. This ongoing process involves the continuous interaction with all law enforcement entities accompanied with oversight of jurisdictional personnel.

The only way to make the NASCAR facilities both safe and entertaining was to physically and electronically monitor the crowd scene and the traffic surrounding the area. The security system was not used only for the safety for the fans but for the drives, staff, and almost every worker on the property.

The fundamental set up of their security infrastructure is compromised of Matrix switchers, positioning systems, forty monitors, forty fixed cameras, fiber optics and coaxial cables. From the time when it was first installed, the security system has been running smoothly and has made the management able to monitor the spectators and prevent incidents from happening during NASCAR’s biggest events.