By Jay Hammes
Violence erupting at a high school sporting event is every athletic director’s worst nightmare. Jay Hammes, Athletic Director at William Horlick High School in Racine, Wis., shares tips for making events safer and more secure.
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Located between Milwaukee and Chicago, Racine, Wis., has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 9.8 percent, and 47 percent of the 23,000 students attending Racine Unified School District live near or below the poverty line. Like many large urban areas, Racine has experienced an increase in violence during and after school hours for each of the last five years.
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Violence had also been on the rise following games and after-school activities in our community over the last five years. Many violent situations result from unstable and impulsive student decisions facilitated by access to firearms and other weapons. So school administrators, including athletic directors, must constantly seek state-of-the-art security strategies to enhance safety in our classrooms, hallways, and athletic facilities. For us, the proof is in the pudding.
Since initiating a number of precautionary steps, Horlick High School has not had a serious crime happen during an athletic event, and we continue to seek best practices from a wide range of sources. After speaking about our successes with a number of other athletic directors, I have decided to share the lessons we’ve learned at William Horlick with other school districts.
STRUCTURING SECURITY STEPS
As an athletic director, I am extremely concerned about preventing violence, and I know the risk doesn't end when the final school bell rings. With that in mind, two very significant questions need to be answered:
1. How many violent crimes have there been at athletic events in the past five years?
2. Is the number of incidents increasing annually?
Gathering school data to assess the number of incidents involving fights or guns is a necessary step to enhance future security and overall safety. It is also important to research and pool emerging best practices tactics in athletics security and violence prevention in order to control and reduce the number of violent incidents that occur during and after athletic events.
These issues must be continually addressed by state associations and athletic directors’ associations at workshops and presentations in order to enhance our understanding of emerging trends and possible remedies. Racine Unified School District, and in particular Horlick High School, have taken the following proactive measures to prevent weapon usage, violent acts, and disruptions during athletic contests:
• We are moving toward requiring a photo I.D. for admission to all future sports events. We plan to make four I.D.s per student: We will give one to the student and one to the parent, and keep two at school to replace lost ones. By consistently requiring presentation of the school I.D. at entry gates, students will grow accustomed to the requirement. Identity checks can prevent confrontations at the gate and provide ticket takers and security personnel with an opportunity to exclude unwanted fans and potential criminal elements.
• A “No Entry” list of students who are deemed to be disruptive is published and provided to participating schools. Security personnel at our home and away events are thus able to exclude students from entering an event when attendance privileges have been revoked.
• Changing a contest schedule is not an option most athletic directors prefer to use, except for reasons involving security. When considering changes in game times, locations, or dates for security reasons, Racine schools and athletic administrators have found that a location change is best and creates the least confusion. Changing the time of a contest (e.g. moving a varsity game from 7:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.) would be the second choice. Our experience with violent confrontations suggests that scheduling varsity events on a date other than Friday or Saturday nights reduces one of the major contributors to violence—the consumption of drugs and alcohol.
• To date, we have chosen to use a visual scan search rather than metal detectors. Visual searches are more cost-effective and expedite entrance of a large crowd into the sporting event. Visual scan searches are accomplished by asking spectators to open their coats. If there is resistance or if there is reasonable suspicion that someone is carrying an unwanted item, a law officer is asked to complete a physical search.
Spectators who refuse this inspection are denied admission. This is a major deterrent to attendees carrying contraband into athletic contests. Officers should also have a breathalyzer available during the entry process to avoid admitting intoxicated fans.
• Schools should prohibit the carrying of backpacks and large bags to sporting events in order to prevent the toting of weapons, drugs, and alcohol. Signs inside and outside school facilities should announce this policy and state that violators may be prosecuted.
• Portable lights at contest entrances and exits can also deter and prevent misconduct. Generator-powered lights can be rented or purchased for events that need heightened security. It is important to understand that maintenance and storage of portable lighting with generators involves significant cost and logistics planning.
• In conjunction with portable lighting, video cameras are used during and after events as a further deterrent to unacceptable conduct. Note that when filming without artificial lights, it is often difficult to identify individuals.
• Although every facility has its own unique supervisory requirements, one that is common to all events is the need to keep spectators seated and not let them loiter or wander throughout the venue. To curtail these potentially disruptive practices, police or security officers are assigned to walk in pairs in predetermined spectator areas during the event. Other supervisory personnel are provided with identifying uniforms and are given specific duties. Supervisors must be trained to understand their critical role in contest security.
• Music that will be played before, during, and after the event must be screened for inappropriate or incendiary material.
• The contest announcer can be your best friend. A well-trained announcer can prevent the worst from happening at your events. He or she should inform spectators about the post-game exiting procedures, and should direct personnel during an evacuation in the event of a problem. Having an experienced staff member announce at all home athletic events is the preferred practice. A recognized announcer can develop a climate for positive sportsmanship and calmness that contributes to overall safety. There is no place for the sensationalism that is common in professional sports announcing.
Taking time to orient and train the announcer for various spectator management and emergency circumstances can pay dividends. This way, the announcer automatically initiates predefined directions to spectators while supervisors, police, and contest workers implement previously developed, rehearsed, and coordinated plans. Orientation and training ensures that your expectations for contest announcing will be met.
• Following a contest, all exiting spectators are directed through a central exit. This creates a net advantage because it reduces the square footage that must be supervised and secured. Spectators are directed to exit through one brightly lit and heavily secured location. Although this practice can cause fans from opposing schools to mingle in a crowded environment, we have made the brightly illuminated exit a point of concentrated security forces and increased vigilance.
• Securing a parking lot with security personnel, a fence, or both can be helpful. Fans and officials appreciate knowing that their cars are safe during the event. In this environment, the need to escort contest officials becomes a minor concern. Security fences with limited entry and exit gates are the best protection for the long term.
• Early intervention to interrupt unacceptable conduct helps prevent larger, potentially dangerous problems from occurring later. Escorting an unruly spectator out of an event in handcuffs also has a proven deterrent effect on others.
MORE WORK TO DO
If there is any preventive measure that needs our continued focus and long-term efforts, it is connecting with students.
Research on communities in which student violence has occurred indicates that students often know about potential incidents of violence. In one Wisconsin school district, as many as 13 students knew about a recent act of violence before it happened but no one spoke up. Conversely, in a suburban Chicago high school, a student came forward to tell an administrator about a student who had been keeping a gun in his locker. When police investigated the locker, they found six guns.
We must keep the lines of communication open, especially for the kids who are not connected to the school but who may attend sports events. Connecting staff members to students who appear disenfranchised from the mainstream or who voice violent thoughts about themselves or others could save lives as well as make the school experience much more meaningful.
WORTH THE EFFORT
A recent survey asked master teachers to cite their most important prerequisite to success in the classroom. Their unanimous response was: Provide me with a safe and secure environment.
The same feeling must persist for our after-school events. Parents, students, community members, officials, and staff are far more likely to attend and show support when they don't have to be worried about unsafe conditions or behavior. Recent research related to the incidence of violent crime in the U.S. dictates that we plan our events with safety and security always in mind. In addition, sharing knowledge and best practices in the related areas of prevention, curtailment, and management of violence is essential: It should be a focus for future state, NFHS, and NIAAA conference workshops and presentations.
To schedule a group presentation, contact Jay Hammes at (262) 989-7711 or e-mail him at jpchammer@yahoo.com. For more information, visit his Web site at: www.safesportzone.com.