Mass Shooting At Music Festival Ups The Ante On Event Security

Absent holding the Las Vegas “Route 91Harvest” country music festival in a different venue, there is likely nothing event planners could have done to prevent the horrific mass shooting that killed 58 and injured more than 500 last month. Of course, such thoughts of venue change would usually only arise through hindsight.
The Oct. 1 attack comes on the relative recent heels of other major attacks — Ariana Grande concert bombing, Boston Marathon Bombing, Bataclan Theatre (Paris) shooting/suicide-bombing — targeting large crowds at entertainment events. Such terrorist attacks had already pushed the issue of event security to center stage in event planning worldwide, but now event planners and event safety specialists might need to further up their strategizing.
The question we must ask though, before moving ahead is: Where does the boundary of responsibility lie between concert promoters and the local police department? Is it the entrance of the venue or is it an integrated process where the promoter and local enforcement collaborate on external security measures as well?
Event Security Planning in the Good Old Days
Prior to recent terrorist-style targeted attacks, event security and safety considerations primarily focused on threats that did not — if at all — present such an immediate and potentially deadly risk to event participants. A short list of priority concerns, absent terrorism/mass shooters, would fall under the categories of weather, alcohol, medical emergencies, and petty disturbances, some of which can be interrelated. Broken down further, and prioritized to some degree according to type of event and demographics of attendees, event security/safety planning would usually focus on:
  • gate crashing
  • vandalism/theft
  • fights
  • alcohol-induced mayhem
  • drug overdoses
  • heat stroke
  • dehydration
  • heart attacks
  • stage rushing
  • production ingress/egress
  • storms (potential for wind, rain, lightening damage/injury)

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