BLOOMINGTON — Bigger hype than normal for the IU football team means bigger crowds in Memorial Stadium, and now, as Hoosier fans sell out all remaining home games, what does that mean from a security standpoint?
We followed along IU Police and Public Safety to find out.
"We're making sure that the venue is safe, but we're making sure that our crowds are safe and that everybody feels welcome," said Ben Hunter, Associate Vice President; Superintendent for Public Safety. "We're going to field the best team out there from the IU public safety aspect of it. We have our team here. We have the Indiana State Police here assisting us. We're looking forward to welcoming everyone here. And, for us, it's about a customer service approach."
Roll call was bright and early—7:30 a.m. That's where officers from several other agencies, including the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Indiana State Police, met to discuss the game plan for first responders.
"It's different, but it's not," said IU Police Sergeant Will Keaton, who oversees game day operations. "The the basics of it are the same. It's just a matter of making some adjustments for the volume of people and the problems that we may expect to encounter."
Keaton said while operational plans haven't changed, it has required more support. "In general, it's basically the same" Keaton said. "It's just on a on a larger scale, we have to scale everything up a little bit."
Before fans step foot in the stadium, IU and State Police K9s do a sweep of the stadium. IU Police Officer Robert Botts and his K9, Indy, did a sweep of the stadium, including the concourse and team locker rooms.
"We don't ever want to find anything, actually," Botts said. "We want to go our whole career and never find anything we didn't put out for training."
High up on top of the press box, several police officers have a bird's-eye view of the stadium and busy intersections below.
"There's frequently, you know, calls in the stands," said IUPD Training Coordinator Daniel Wilson. "Then if you're on the ground, all you can see is a crowd of people, and we can see a lot better up here."
IU Police also gets a better view at a location away from the stadium—the Emergency Operations Center. Utilizing drones, stadium security cameras, and officers on the ground, first responders can get to an emergency in minutes. Something that is still possible, even with a sold-out stadium.
"It's just incredibly helpful to have all of the collaboration and partnerships in this room just sitting shoulder to shoulder," said University Director for Emergency Management and Continuity Amanda Roach. "More fans means potentially more work for us, but that's okay. So we still have the same great partnerships, regardless of how many fans are in the stadium."
IU Police look to utilize their safety plans once again this Saturday, as IU faces Washington in front of another sold-out Memorial Stadium.
