Open Arms and Open Eyes: Best Practices for Outdoor Event Security
Each outdoor event or music festival is different—in fact, that’s what festivals and many attractions are going for. They know that attendees don’t want the same experience year after year, even from the same festival. And those changes can extend beyond the lineup.
“At the Coachella Music Festival and Stagecoach, over the past three or four years, they’ve moved different things around on the property just to kind of enhance the guest experience and make it where it’s not the same year after year,” says Travis Strawbridge, senior regional director for special events at Allied Universal.
Outdoor event organizers build support areas—food and beverage, toilets, and first aid—anew in a matter of days. And after the final number ends, crews break down and pack the materials away to return the space to what it was before.
This also means that planning and implementing security for outdoor events requires a new set up built from scratch every time.
Preparation
“At a permanent arena, everything is in place. You know where the gates are. You know where the crowd flow is going to be. Everything is stagnant. So, it really takes away the variables that happen on a day-to-day event basis,” says Andrew LaMadrid, vice president of sales for Unified Command Solutions, an Allied Universal company.
LaMadrid’s experience includes managing event operations centers, communications, and incident response at music festivals like Coachella.
“When you enter the music festival world, they’re building everything from scratch,” he says.
When LaMadrid is looking over security measures for special events, he knows that certain elements will only succeed if timed appropriately. For example, surveillance cameras cannot be installed and their lines of sight tested until the stage is completely built. If installed too soon, temporary elements like banners might block the cameras’ views later. If installed too late, technicians will be in the way of other stakeholders putting last-minute touches on the venue.
“It’s really about finding the sweet spot of getting there early enough that we can be successful, but also not too early, where we’re hindered by the actual operations of building everything,” LaMadrid says.
And much of that timing comes down to planning and completing risk assessments. Most experts recommend that risk assessments start at least 90 to 120 days in advance of an event. This approach gives organizers enough time to coordinate with stakeholders, conduct site surveys, and plan for contingencies, according to Shannon Torres, customer success manager at 911inform, former chief of police for Keyport Borough, New Jersey, and an expert in threat assessments.
There are some universal aspects of a risk assessment that can apply to any event that may attract a large number of people. But outdoor events have a few unique differences.
Strawbridge—who focuses on special events such as F1, Coachella, Cali Vibes, and other large-scale music festivals across the United States—notes that there can be an element of flux. The size of the event can change, expanding or shrinking depending on the number of ticket sales. This in turn can affect perimeter fence placement; security professionals will need to be alert to these changes to verify that the new fencing isn’t next to an opening or a low barrier that’s easy to hop over.
Risk assessments must keep attendees in mind as well so that security teams can make adjustments based on potential behavior. LaMadrid has found that certain genres of music or types of music festivals tend to attract certain risks from or among attendees.
He expects attendees at an electronic dance music concert will likely possess or consume drugs, country music festival fans will typically drink greater quantities of alcohol, and rock show audiences will likely mosh in pits and crowd surf.
“You actually start seeing patterns and you start responding appropriately to how interact,” he says.
Ultimately, it’s important for security practitioners to remain adaptable when it comes to developing a risk assessment, especially for temporary or outdoor events.
“Keep in mind it must be a living document, updated regularly as the event nears and whenever key factors change—such as forecast shifts, intelligence bulletins, or logistical modifications,” Torres adds. “Be flexible and always ready to pivot.”
To balance out the risks posed by attendees, the environment, and even happenstance, LaMadrid says he focuses heavily on communications even before the sound check.
“You don’t have the familiarity that you do at an arena, for instance,” LaMadrid says. “So, it’s really about standardizing. You have to ensure that everyone is aware in how communication is going to flow.”
Everyone supporting an event, even beyond security, should understand how incidents are reported and followed up on. Not only does this help get everyone on the same page on proper safety procedures, but it can also help avoid congestion around communications and maintain healthy incident management practices.
Partnerships
As part of the planning process, security professionals look to partnerships with local law enforcement, government agencies, and stakeholders.
By coordinating with law enforcement and local stakeholders, event organizers and security teams will better understand the event host’s environment. It’s also critical that they work together to plan for emergencies that might arise during the event.
“An effective risk assessment starts with assembling a qualified team of professionals—public safety officials, emergency managers, private security leaders, event coordinators, and technology partners,” Torres says. “Each brings a different and important perspective to the table.”
Larger events typically have a command center that hosts stakeholders from local police, fire, and emergency agencies. Any 911 calls made from an event’s space may initially go to a local 911 dispatcher, but that dispatcher can identify where the call originated from and redirect it to the event’s command center. Triaging calls this way prevents delays from emergency responders who are unfamiliar with the site.
The type of emergency response largely depends on the incident that occurs at an event, Torres notes. Internal security members may initially assess the threat before escalating the response to include law enforcement.
“Response can vary from plainclothes monitoring or investigative follow-up by detectives, to crowd redirection or full-scale evacuation protocols,” Torres notes. While communication with law enforcement and other local stakeholders supports an appropriate response, it also demands sound decision making—especially when multiple incidents can happen at the same time.
Prioritize
Perimeter and event layout may change with every outdoor event, but security management practices like triaging incidents remain classics.
For Strawbridge, there’s a standardized response protocol for incidents that is ranked on a tier system.
“Let’s say it’s a medical call, and it is somebody that twisted their ankle, and a security guard is the closest person. They can limp up and ask for medical—that would be a Tier 3,” Strawbridge says.
By comparison, a Tier 2 would be the report of someone having a severe medical episode—an attendee is unresponsive or complaining of chest pains and in need of more comprehensive medical support. A Tier 1 is an egregious or extreme event, such as an active shooter or natural disaster.
Torres says she relies on a risk matrix to guide how to classify incidents. The matrix—inspired by guidance from the U.S. Department of Defense that can be used in emergency management—evaluates the likelihood and impact of events to help security teams prioritize which threats require immediate attention versus monitoring.
“For instance, an unattended bag near the main stage during a peak time is assessed differently than a weather alert for potential rain later in the evening,” Torres notes. The matrix approach “allows us to remain objective under pressure, minimize overreaction, and allocate the right resources to the right place,” she adds.
Security personnel and incident commanders can use surveillance technology—including audio, video, and analytics—to make an informed decision about the appropriate response to an incident.
“There’s a limited amount of assets, so you’ve got to use them wisely,” LaMadrid says, noting that an effective incident management system can help log and track incidents, the responses, and the outcomes.
Remembering the Patrons
Despite all the work that goes into building a safe event, organizers maintain a parallel goal: ensuring that efforts to keep guests safe don’t interfere with the overall attendee experience.
Early communication with stakeholders and event attendees can help generate a smoother experience in the lead up to and during the event.
“To minimize disruptions, rules and expectations should be communicated in advance through event websites, email confirmations, and signage,” Torres says.
Notifying attendees ahead of time about any security measures can help ease any initial friction.
“We also prepare for exceptions—such as having a limited number of lockers available for prohibited items discovered at screening,” Torres says. “The key is balancing vigilance with a seamless guest experience.”
Sara Mosqueda is associate editor for Security Management. Connect with her on LinkedIn or send her an email at [email protected].
