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Date 6-27-06
Contact Jana Bryant 601.266.4497
WITH PHOTOS
HATTIESBURG—Sports
venues at the University of Southern Mississippi will be even safer
for spectators as the result of an initiative underway to develop
the university’s first-ever emergency response and evacuation plan
for athletic facilities.
The thought of having to evacuate more than 30,000 spectators from
M.M. Roberts Stadium in the event of an emergency is a scenario
that Southern Miss Police Chief Bob Hopkins hopes never to see.
But Hopkins and the university last week took a step toward finalizing
an emergency plan for doing just that during a tabletop exercise
that brought together representatives from more than a dozen university
departments and area emergency and law enforcement agencies.
Using a scripted emergency scenario, some 30 participants discussed
steps that would be taken in the event of such an incident on campus.
“We are responsible for protection and ensuring that spectators
have an enjoyable experience. It is important for us to be prepared
for anything -- a fire, overzealous crowd, sudden explosion or even
a terrorist event,” said Hopkins.
Terry Steed, executive director of the Hattiesburg-Forrest County
Emergency Management District, facilitated the exercise that placed
participants in groups according to related tasks of medical, law
enforcement, fire and rescue, athletics and media. With a primary
objective of identifying areas of concern and deficiencies in the
plan, the scenario provided the catalyst for conversation regarding
individual and agency roles and responsibilities according to the
response plan.
“What is different about this exercise is that the athletic department
doesn’t normally work in an emergency response type of environment,
but they are vital in this scenario. Knowing the procedures and
protocol is critical. It gives them a chance to play on our field,”
said Steed.
Steed and Hopkins agree that the exchange of information was invaluable
in revealing gaps in the plan. “It showed that we are prepared to
address the issues, and at the same time, there are some things
we can do to make it better,” said Hopkins. “Because of these exercises,
it will make us more effective in what we do.”
Hopkins says that while the most common incident in the Hattiesburg
stadium is likely a weather-related evacuation, thinking among law
enforcement officials post-9/11 is that sports stadiums with large
crowds could be more attractive targets.
The next step in the process is to take recommendations from the
tabletop exercise and incorporate them into the response plan, said
doctoral student Lauren Beckman, who organized the exercise as part
of her dissertation.
Steed says that officials often take the process a step further
by conducting a functional exercise where operations are simulated
in a controlled environment and have a full-scale drill with mock
victims. “For this plan, we are looking at doing this with the help
of a computer-based virtual reality program,” said Steed.
Beckman and Steed also were involved in conducting a 2005 vulnerability
assessment of the university’s event security strengths and weaknesses.
Hopkins, Drs. Walter Cooper and Lou Marciani from the School of
Human Performance and Recreation (HPR), and David Hansen, former
assistant athletic director, also were key players in the assessment
that included interviews, observations and unannounced game day
audits. The game day audits looked at critical assets, including
utilities, perimeter control, credentialing, training and traffic
control among a host of other items within a one-mile radius of
the 50-yard line.
The university has since made several upgrades in fencing, lighting
and electrical access, and surveillance equipment in and around
M.M. Roberts Stadium.
Cooper and Marciani spearheaded a proposal to the Mississippi Office
of Homeland Security (MOHS) for a stadium security initiative to
develop a research-based model for security management at sports
facilities at Mississippi’s eight state-funded institutions of higher
learning.
With a $568,000 grant from MOHS, Cooper and his colleagues in HPR
conducted similar assessments, including game day audits, of seven
other universities in the state. Cooper says that while they found
best practices, they also noted gaps.
“What people said they were doing wasn’t really always what was
happening,” said Cooper. “The more we worked with security experts,
we began to find there were four broad areas not being coordinated
– assessment/threat risk, training, exercises/drills, and game day
audits.”
Once completed, the findings were presented to university representatives
this past February. While individualized reports were provided to
each school studied, specifics are not public information since
they are law enforcement sensitive materials.
Click to enlarge
Terry Steed, executive director of the Hattiesburg-Forrest County Emergency Management District, makes a point during a recent exercise at the University of Southern Mississippi conducted as part of the university's efforts in developing an emergency response and evacuation plan for athletic facilities. (Photo by Steve Rouse)
Click to enlarge
Representatives of more than a dozen university departments and area emergency response and law enforcement agencies met last week at the University of Southern Mississippi to work through an emergency scenario in further refining the university's emergency response and evacuation plan for athletic facilities. Pictured from left are participants Jim Brinson of the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, Maj. Billy Lane and Capt. Ricky Myers of the Hattiesburg Police Department. (Photo by Steve Rouse)
Click to enlarge
University Police Chief Bob Hopkins, left, and Ricky Myers, Hattiesburg police captain, look over aerial photos of the University of Southern Mississippi campus during a tabletop exercise on the university's emergency response plan. The exercise brought together representatives of more than a dozen university departments and area emergency response and law enforcement agencies. (Photo by Steve Rouse)
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