Page 19 - Campus Security & Life Safety, July/August 2021

ing bits of paper at the gate.
Stadiums are also looking to smartphones to help them stage entry
times into the park. Instead of the stampede when the gates open, stadiums can notify fans through a smartphone app when it’s their turn to queue at a specific gate.
Video cameras can play a role in maintaining social distancing at the entrance. With the addition of queue management analytics sta- diums can address bottlenecks at the entrances in real-time and auto- matically alert staff when they need to move some fans to a less con- gested gate. Other analytics can check whether a fan is wearing a mask and trigger an audio reminder through an adjacent speaker.
Stadiums are also starting to vet a number of video and audio ana- lytics to help fans adhere to health guidelines – everything from sneeze and cough detectors to self-administered temperature checks.
Inside the stadium. Eager to keep their fans and staff protected, stadiums are shifting to touchless, cashless operations. To avoid crowded concourses, with fans lining up to purchase food and souve- nirs, stadiums are adopting their own version of curbside pickup. Instead of congregating to eat on the concourse, fans place and pay for their orders through their smartphones and are notified when they’re ready for pickup. Once they pick up their order, the new norm will be to return to their seats to eat.
Communal condiment stations will become a thing of the past. In accordance with touchless protocols, concessioners will bundle pack- ets of toppings and utensils in each fan’s order. It’s likely we’ll no longer see vendors selling their wares in the stands. Before you mourn the loss of an iconic experience, just think about all those viruses deprived of the opportunity to jump from hand to hand with the passing of food, souvenirs, and cash up and down the row.
To further minimize the exposure of virus transmission, stadiums are starting to retrofit bathrooms with touchless doors, faucets and towel dispensers. To ensure safe social distancing, they’re also using video analytics and network speakers to track and limit how many people can be in a bathroom at a time.
In the VIP lounges and bars, occupancy management analytics are being used to enforce assembly limits dictated by local guidelines. If
a gathering crowd reaches a threshold, stadium staff automatically receive an alert to disperse the group into smaller, socially distant parties.
Beyond health and safety, stadiums are using intelligent network video technology to improve situational awareness across their entire operation. For example:
• Alerting security when motion analytics detect an unauthorized
person attempts to enter a restricted area like the players’ locker
room, press boxes, VIP suites, catering kitchens, etc.
• Monitoring the kitchens to assure the staff follows proper health
and safety protocols when handling and preparing food
• Oversee activity at merchandise kiosks and retail shops to detect
pilfering and unsanctioned giveaways
• Record loading dock deliveries and provide forensic evidence to
reconcile discrepancies
Managing event exit. This is a tough one. If their favorite team is
losing or there’s a blowout so the final score is inevitable, fans want to exit early to beat the traffic. Stadiums are still exploring egress strate- gies that will allow them to maintain health and safety standards without feeling too restrictive to fans. It will probably take quite a bit of trial and error until a workable solution is reached.
New Norms, New Challenges
While a lot of the conversation about getting fans back in the stands has centered on operations, stadiums haven’t lost focus on the secu- rity end of things. Any operational improvements meant to address the new norm of heighten health and safety need to be reviewed from the perspective of security to ensure they don’t create any unintended consequences.
As stadiums gradually return to full attendance, they may face new challenges they hadn’t previously anticipated. But with help from intelligent network technology, stadiums will soon be able to restore the full fan experience in all its exciting glory.
Mark McCormack is a senior national sales manager, Global and National Accounts, at Axis Communications.
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