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The University of Southern Mississippi’s National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) brought together top safety and security industry leaders representing intercollegiate athletics, as well as commercial sport and entertainment facilities, Jan. 15-19 at the Grande Lakes Orlando in Florida for the National Intercollegiate Athletics Safety and Security Summit. The event was followed by the Commercial Sport and Entertainment Facilities Safety and Security Summit Jan. 17-19.
For the first time in Summit history, a joint meeting occurred Jan. 17 including attendees from both events. A highlight of the joint session was a keynote speech by Cathy Lanier, senior vice president of security for the National Football League (NFL). Lanier’s presentation, titled, “The State of the Union of Sports Safety and Security” addressed the changing landscape of the field of security since the 1990s.
Lanier focused on technology integration and the usefulness of technology to address today’s problems, including how it can be used and should be applied to urban areas around stadiums to help mitigate loss and improve first responder performance and results.
“It was an honor to spend the day exchanging ideas and lessons learned with other security professionals from both pro and college venues,” said Lanier. “It was clear that we all are focusing on staying ahead of future threats, and there is no better way to do that than to interact in forums like this.”
Attendees also had the opportunity to dive deeper into designated issues during breakout sessions for the following topical areas: Event Day Safety and Security, Crowd Dynamics/Management, Emergency Action Planning, Staff Development and Performance, Facilities Design/Technology, and Risk/Threat Assessment.
A robust lineup of speakers, panelists, and subject matter experts complimented each of the critical issues discussed during each two-and-a-half day event. Some of the current safety and security issues in the program included civil unrest, customer service, new facility construction, and event staff training and retention, among others.
For more information about the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4), visit https://www.ncs4.com.
