Jacksonville (Fla.) Municipal Stadium will be the host site for the first Center for Spectator Sports Security Management workshop in sports event security training.

This event, scheduled from April 7-8, kicks off a series of training workshops offered through The University of Southern Mississippi center and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Throughout 2009-2010, more than 1,000 intercollegiate institutions are invited to receive the center's sports event security training at National Football League Stadiums across the country that include the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and Cleveland Browns Stadium.

"A paradigm change is occurring in intercollegiate athletics safety and security," said center director Dr. Lou Marciani. "The Center for Spectator Sports Security Management, in partnership with NACDA, developed a curriculum based on research indicating a gap in security practices at intercollegiate athletic events."

Center officials spent last year researching, developing and testing the curriculum for the workshops, which are funded by a $3.5 million grant from the United States Department of Homeland Security. Top security officials from various backgrounds, including the United States Secret Service, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, will instruct modules that include scenario-based training exercises for sport event incidents, multi-agency collaboration, the most current threats that pose a risk to today's spectator safety and delivering proper risk assessments and recovery processes.

“The overall goal for this training program is the standardization of sports event security risk management practices,” Marciani said. “We have trained highly qualified instructors with extensive
experience and knowledge to conduct this curriculum.”

Historical cases of sports disaster incidents will also be analyzed for discussion and challenge university officials to think of ways to avert a variety of emergency scenarios, such as how to conduct thorough bomb sweeps and spot weapon parts hidden among innocent spectators.

"We are glad to see the work that has been done over the course of the past year finally coming to fruition," said Mike Cleary, NACDA executive director. "We are proud to be partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, the NFL and Southern Miss.”

The Center for Spectator Sports Security Management at The University of Southern Mississippi was established in 2006 to provide an interdisciplinary environment to further increase sports security awareness; improve sport security policies and procedures; and enhance emergency response through evacuation, recovery operations and crowd management training.

For a complete list of upcoming sports event security workshops, on the Web visit http://www.sporteventsecurity.com/schedule.php or call 601.266.6183.

About The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, founded in 1910, is a comprehensive doctoral and research-extensive university fulfilling its mission of being a leading university in engaging and empowering individuals to transform lives and communities.  In a tradition of leadership for student development, Southern Miss is educating a 21st century work force providing intellectual capital, cultural enrichment and innovation to Mississippi and the world.  Southern Miss is located in Hattiesburg, Miss., with an additional campus and teaching and research sites on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; further information is found at www.usm.edu.