NCS4 Hosts Crowd Safety and Risk Analysis Workshop

The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) at The University of Southern Mississippi recently hosted a Crowd Safety and Risk Analysis Workshop, led by world-renowned crowd expert Dr. Keith Still. Held on May 16-18, this marked the first time the NCS4 hosted a workshop of this type.

“We looked at security and safety screening processes, efficiencies of crowd movements, built-in complex environments and how people respond, and best plans for crowd risks,” Still said. 

Still is a Professor of Crowd Science at Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. He has more than 25 years of crowd safety experience and works around the world, teaching people about crowd safety and crowd risk analysis. 

Workshop participants from across the country came to gain a better understanding of crowd safety and how crowd accidents and incidents can occur. Duke University (North Carolina) sent representatives from both law enforcement and athletics to attend the workshop.

Shannan Tiffin, Captain of Support Services/Emergency Management at Duke University Police Department, found the workshop to be very beneficial. “There is not a lot out there about crowd behavior and psychology,” said Tiffin. “The workshop provided us with a simplified approach to understanding the behaviors of how people act, and ingress and egress from a venue or stadium.”

Rebecca Wilusz, Associate Director of Game Operations & Champion at Duke University Athletics, agrees with Tiffin. “Keith has done a great job of making the information accessible – I have left the workshop with both simple and effective tools to be able to build better plans and train our athletics staff more efficiently.

Workshop participants included those in athletics, law enforcement, fire/Hazmat, event staffing/security, as well as private sector companies. NCS4 plans to host more workshops of this type in the future.

For more information about NCS4, visit www.ncs4.com.