While crowd control is seeing high demand by stadium security operators, other technologies such as social media monitoring and anti-drone technology are also being used to help manage possible incidents.
Stadiums can often be targets of violence. Hence, protecting event goers, stadium staff, event performers and athletes becomes a priority. With large crowds of people attending events, securing such an environment can be a challenge; however, with current technology, protecting event attendees is getting easier.
Depending on the event, stadiums can attract a very diverse type of event goer, from the teeny-bopping music lover to the belligerent sports fan. "Nowadays, the main challenges in stadium security are to control the access of troublemakers, such as hooligans and other blacklisted people, as well as controlling attendees’ behavior,” said Laura Blanc, Marketing Executive at Herta Security.
The bulk purchase of tickets for stadium events also pose a security risk when it comes to crowd control. “Bulk purchases of event tickets means that unidentified people will be receiving tickets and event organizers will not know who they are,” said Raj Sandhu, CEO of Bikal Distribution.
Aside from controlling who is entering the stadium, other security concerns revolve around pre-empting any type of possible disturbance. “Most of the issues in stadium security are related to on-event-day disturbances and crowd control,” Sandhu said. “These are usually under the basis of volume crimes such as pickpocketing, drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, and other anti-social behaviors.” He added, “Crowd issues are not only a problem for safety but the confusion and chaos allow thieves to take advantage of the circumstances.”
Managing incidents in a new way
While crowd control is seeing high demand by stadium security operators, other technologies such as social media monitoring and anti-drone technology are also being used to help manage possible incidents.
Location-Based Social Media Monitoring
Social media has become more than just a means of keeping in touch with friends — it is now being used to break news. During large sporting events or concerts, social media could be used as a tool to monitor the goings-on in a stadium from the view of the event goers. By monitoring location-based social media postings, stadium security staff can monitor social media outlets for keywords such as fight, bomb, gun, etc. Social media posts could also help security staff determine social sentiment, intent and activity as it happens.
Social media monitoring technology from companies such as WeLink, Snaptrends and Geofeedia are able to send out real-time alerts to the appropriate security personnel whenever keywords were detected in and/or around the stadium area, alerting security personnel to possible threats. In addition to alerting authorities to potential threats, social media monitoring could help in investigating causes of events after they occur.
Anti-Drone Technology
The number of drones being used for commercial and recreational purposes is on the rise. However, many people are concerned about drone use, not only for privacy reasons but also for safety reasons. Unauthorized drone usage near or inside of a stadium may not only be distracting or annoying, it could also threaten public safety in the event the drone were to crash.
There are a number of companies that specialize in anti-drone technology, such as the Australia-based DroneShield and Denmark-based Anti-Drone.
According to DroneShield’s website, its patent-pending acoustic detection technology works with an enterprise-grade sensor network that can sense drones that are invisible to radar or lack radio-frequency links. Specifically in a stadium environment, the website states the DroneShield can be used by event security teams to monitor all dimensions of an event space, on the ground and in the air.
Anti-Drone, as per their website, is a perimeter protection system — the main component of the system is a surveillance radar that can identify and track drones, quadcopters, helicopters, etc., that cross a defined perimeter. Furthermore, the Anti-Drone system can be integrated with video surveillance systems, perimeter surveillance radars and others.