As Chief of Public Safety for SMG Managed Facilities in New Orleans, Donald Paisant is responsible for all the security on a large campus that includes the Mercedes Benz Superdome, the Smoothie King Center and Champions Square. One of SMG’s security assets is an armed public safety security force. “These people are in police-type uniforms and are commissioned by the superintendent of police of the New Orleans Police Department,” says Paisant. “They have arrest powers on our campus while they’re working, similar to a college campus police force. The NOPD will back us up and do any follow-up investigations.”
This force is a 24/7 operation and consists of 30 people over three watches. On event days, Paisant has a pool of 150 part-time commissioned armed officers to choose from, depending on staffing needs. He is also in charge of non-armed, in-house security guards, of which there are around 650, and two control centers located in the Superdome and the Smoothie King Center.