“The country’s come quite a long way. Fans now expect security, and it made me feel good that I could take my wife and daughter to a baseball game, spend a couple hundred dollars, and feel safe about it,” says Adam Stockwell, Vice President of Security for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Trump administration urged Congress this week to give it new powers to disable or destroy threatening drones. According to Reuters, written testimony from David Glawe, undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, and Hayley Chang, DHS deputy general counsel, said that “terrorist groups overseas use drones to conduct attacks on the battlefield and continue to plot to use them in terrorist attacks elsewhere. This is a very serious, looming threat that we are currently underprepared to confront.”
Metrasens’ customer, a Fortune 100 U.S. technology company, was hosting a large event in a major U.S. city and wanted to enhance security screening effectiveness while maintaining a positive audience experience.
Chicago lawmakers are attempting to amend the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act to permit law enforcement to fly surveillance drones over “large scale events” in Chicago. The bill references festivals and concerts, but ACLU Illinois says the amendment could empower police to fly drones over political protests and rallies.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is bolstering its risk mitigation stance with drones and armed security, hoping to prevent a mass attack like the Las Vegas shooting last October.
As tragedies like Vegas, Orlando and Sandy Hook stay top of mind for Americans, venues of every size across the country should assess how they tackle the difficult questions raised when evaluating security concerns for their events.
Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Maloof has always had a fascination with technology, so landing a job at Oracle Corporation and quickly working his way up to Vice President of Global Security there has been a great fit. “Information technology is where it’s at, and I want to be where it’s at. IT is truly a global sector, and our customers and employees are everywhere,” he says.
Sixteen years ago Mark Theisen was hired at Thrivent Financial as manager of safety and security. Today, it’s home, one that he says matches his personal values.
Iconic entertainers will remain attractive targets for terrorist attacks because they attract substantial crowds and promote social norms and values that conflict with terrorists’ worldviews.
If the Islamic State terrorist organization deliberately targeted Ariana Grande or her May 22, 2017, concert, new challenges will be presented for security professionals who provide close quarters protection to entertainment stars.