Safety in the Stadium: Is Security Seeing New Standards?

Avery Woods, 21st Century Journalism Reporter

Freshmen who were almost arrested, seniors who streaked across the field, a student’s car egged — all rumors regarding the security of the football stadium. The safety of the stadium is definitely in question when it comes to events like these.

According to the police officers residing in the building, there should be district officers at key points in the stadium, with employees at the ticket booth, main gate and student gate — but only during school hours. After school hours, the standard safety measures will be taken.

“There’s not much of it,” freshman Madelyn Musson, varsity cheerleader, said about the security she had seen at sports events.

According to the SMSD website, “Officers… conduct parking enforcement, traffic control, and patrol the campuses.” Police officers believe stadium security during games isn’t a number one priority.

“There’s probably 100 phones recording what you’re doing,” said District Resource Officer Richard Spandle said.

Unlike students, staff seems to be impressed with the security in the football stadium.

“I think they’re focused, and vigilant,” said Chris Kiblen, defensive coordinator for the varsity football team.

At a recent football game against Shawnee Mission East, a student “streaked” across the field; there was also a tailgating issue.

“We did have some complaints about recent tailgating… it is something worth keeping a closer eye on,” Spandle said. “It’s going to be monitored more closely.”

There were reports of damaged cars in the parking lots and other issues.

“If we have a game like that, I’ll send a note to area patrol,” Spandle said.

Crowd control has also been an issue when it comes to high-energy games, like the ones against Shawnee Mission East.

“I’ve seen a lot of kids out of control,” Musson said.

Safety is the number one concern, however, and students seem to be satisfied.

“I mean, yeah; there’s a lot of people there,” Musson said about feeling safe inside the stadium.

And if there are going to be more changes to security, they won’t come for a while.

“We’re not up and running yet,” said Campus Security Officer Greg Merchant about the general security changes.

So keep your eyes open at the next football game and watch how security handles the next unexpected episode.