Only weeks after the Vegas Shooting, I began a journey to save events from more tragedies! I wanted to make events safer again. I've planned special events (races, fireworks, concerts, art fest, food fest, cultural events, etc) for over 17 years and love watching families enjoy them! But I knew events would never be the same! I began writing those who I thought might be able to make significant changes to ALL events, that were simple - using technology we already had and methods that were feasible to implement. Having planned large scale events I knew that security measures that some think are "necessary" are not always practical or logistically possible depending on the venue. So I carefully complied ideas I knew would help based on my passed experiences and compiled them into a comprehensive plan. Mentioning that protocols from post 9-11 are not being used anymore (thanks to our "one-second" society!) but they weren't event used at the Boston Marathon, and since Boston, what has been done? We missed an opportunity between the Boston Marathon and Vegas to train again, or train those who are new to event planning and to brain storm other security measures using the new technology that's available. To become vigilant and they didn't! Not only was my email seemingly ignored by those I contacted, but I was never contacted and then an article came out on 4/14/18 with my exact information, almost verbatim in order of how I laid out the plans. Sure enough its FBI, LEO's, Homeland Security and a couple CEO's taking credit. And oddly enough not one female is mentioned in the planning, coordinating or implementing of these ideas and new technology. I am disappointed on so many levels. While I am happy and thanking God these measures can be put in place to save lives - as they should have been years ago - I am disappointed I was not included and not able to help further. I've highlighted the parts directly taken from this email.
Not only in the IFEA Article that was released do they steal directly from my information, but they pat themselves on the back. I think one of the main reasons my emails were overlooked, was because I took a very humbling approach. I literally point out things that we should be doing, and had they be done in Vegas, it could of saved lives!! They should not be patting themselves on the back - but apologizing and kicking themselves in the ass!!
So, let me apologize in advance for the extra long entry today. This is my process since the Vegas Shooting my free time has been dedicated to not only researching - reading articles, social media, watching news or 20/20 documentary on the shooting, the lame excuse for an interview that Ellen did, interviewing witnesses, employees and more. In the moments following the shooting I had immediate ideas and concerns for what the Vegas event planner DID NOT DO and what we as event planners are not doing that could have saved lives. I immediately took notes, and began writing. I first sent this email (below) on 10/11/17 to Will at Hello Endless Entertainment a local A/V Event company, then on 10/20/17 to IFEA (International Festival and Events Association), as well as I followed up because I didn't hear anything on 10/30/17. After calling and leaving messages for two other IFEA employees, I finally went after a larger event security company and emailed Peter Ashwin of ERMS Global. He did respond but said he was busy and would get back to me. But did not. Honestly, it was right before the holidays and I figured it might take a while. However, I was not expecting this.
My Email in its entirety:
12/01/2017
Dear Mr. Peter Ashwin,
I hope your well!! I was a long time member
of IFEA in the AZ chapter and still attend APRA conferences (NRPA:
national state, local parks and recreation), my name is Kathy Worrell.
I've planned special events for over 18 years, in Mesa
and Fountain hills, as well as on volunteer committees for Phoenix
Fabulous forth, the Fiesta bowl and sat on the Superbowl Volunteer Sub
Committee, etc. Sorry, the email is so long, I promise there are some
great points and opportunity in here regarding the future of event security and technology!!
I wanted to touch base because of the Vegas shooting and an epiphany I had; regarding special events, technology and security.
I realize that IFEA has put out some safety
and security training. I'm not concerned that training isn't available.
My concern is - not everyone is taking it - it's not mandatory or
required to have an event or become an event planner. The Security or safety training received is not always comprehensive or inclusive of different
venues/events. It's also not standardized across both the public and
private sectors. It's not getting to local municipalities, smaller event
planners. So that's part of my solution here.
I was born in Vegas and have family there,
luckily none were at the concert. But my husband is a Mesa PD Officer
and 3 of his off duty friends were in attendance. One was grazed in the face by a
bullet. He was initially treated and released in Vegas
and returned to AZ on that Monday. He later found out the person hit by
the remaining bullet shrapnel had died. I've had a chance to talk to the Mesa PD Active Shooter trainer, and some Vegas PD staff that worked
the aftermath in the department. And have made
additions to my initial reaction.
1) I was concerned that along with elements
out of the control of the event planners (Live Nation?); that not
enough security was done, and with the technology available today, it
was not used efficiently enough to save or protect its attendees.
(Just from the event planners scoop of resources, not including PD -
I'll address that later. Just rent-a-security, vendors, rental equipment
and staffing)
My instant thoughts were, as I watched the singer run off stage was there is a HUGE screen and open mic, not being utilized!!
So:
A) Why wasn't a general Emergency message
system in place to alert the attendees? "EMERGENCY IN PROGRESS, PLEASE
EXIT EVENT". Via text message, or the HUGE screen or over the mic? The
shooting lasted for 17 mins and during that time most
people were confused, in denial and not aware of the gravity of the
situation. We know this technology already exist, yet there was a
failure to plan for it's use. Had it been used, people could have began to take cover, exit the event or clasp the severity of what was happening and act accordingly.
B) Cameras should not just be used to face the stage, but used to face the crowd and points of interest.
B)1: maybe the use of body cameras is
in order at events, not just for PD? But gate security and on site
staff, etc. What vendors do we see being able to provide these
resources?
C) Most of the time we place our security
people (bodies) at gates, behind stages, info booths - regardless they
are all at "ground level", not elevated positions OR rarely from a place
"off site" to be able to be proactive, rather amongst
the crowd who's "reacting" and not able to be "proactive". I'm thinking a van or conference room off
site, with video and audio feeds.
D) Paper or wafer thin chips are already
used in racing bibs, to track and time racers. Those hold the information of the runners. What if we placed them in
event wrist bands? You enter the venue, you scan your licence/ID (like
the devices we use for drinking (21 and older) events), you get an
arm band. The info is associated with that band. And the same "timing"
devices are used, when you leave, return or enter a different zone by
walking over the device it logs it. This could of greatly helped in the
aftermath of ID'ing people, counting people,
as well as a comprehensive look at where or how people escaped. It also would have given us an accurate number of how many people were there for the actual shooting event. Many people had left because it was late, and for all we know some have never come forward. For
future reference this information is relevant in planning future events, even if it's not used in a tragedy like Vegas.
2) All these points are were I thought of
IFEA and one of it's vendors, or a company being able to lead the way in
event security and technology efficiency. I think this is definitely
the way of the future of events. My initial thought
was to secure events and protect the attendees, but I also think as
I've outlined these products there is a business opportunity here as
well. The research, testing and distribution of it. Implementing it and
setting new standards.
For instance, a company can offer body
cams, cameras for security reasons, drones for rent (Not just for taking
great crowd pics), emergency systems, "smart wrist bands" AND provide
or attend training in how and why they are important.
I was thinking of eventually adding an annual or bi-annual "Event
Security/Safety Submit". Not an optional "class" slipped into a week of
conference. Where we include Homeland, FEMA, local PD, EMT and in my
case, survivors and eye witnesses. But it should
be mandatory. There should be, or we should discuss "certification of
safety" for planners or for events. Where they submit and practice
overall event safety in an on going, all inclusive practice.
Let me know if you'd like to discuss this further.
While I know IFEA and or ERMS is capable
with this information, I'm hoping if you see value in this and move
forward, you'll consider taking me with you. I'd love to be a part of
security accounts, coordinating products, planning the training
or helping advise and/or test equipment. I'll even volunteer for right
now. As I mentioned before my main concern is protecting American
people's lives and making special events safer.
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
again sorry so long but my combined event experience, along with my
personal interest in this issue, just exploded in this comprehensive
thought process. Below: More on helping events become more secure. But I cover training that was given 16 years ago and wasn't
implemented in either the Boston marathon or the Vegas shooting.
Sincerely,
Kathy Worrell
If you have time: my additional thoughts on
why event planners (at a local govt level at least. Maybe you can
provide insight in what the private sector learns) will need more
security from their vendors. And the problem with the disconnect
from PD, and then the disconnect from federal government.
After 9-11, Homeland security contacted me
(at city of Mesa) 6 months later (that was probably fast back then) and
requested information on vendors, sponsors, vehicles, maps and staff for
the next 3 major events...as well as provided a training.
But that was it, after Dec of 2002 they never contacted us again. I
thought even though we had adopted a couple new security measures, that
surely we'd need continuing training? (One measure we adopted was manned
"break away" fencing in the large gaps between
exits, so our crowd wasn't trapped or trampling each other, or if exits
were blocked, emergency services could get in. And the security person
manning it was supposed to cut open the gate and yell for people to go
that way. Yet, it was clearly not a technique
used in Boston or Vegas, some 16 years later?) What happened... I'm
surprised there is not more required training or security certifications
out there for event planners! I'm surprised how much is just left to
local PD's and Fire Departments who oversee the
event permits. They sometimes make decisions on placement and people
without contacting the event planners. Mostly, these people show up the
day of, and are not privy to the event details. Ironically, they may receive ongoing
training but it's rarely shared with the govt
event planners or rec departments, and I'm not sure what is required of
the private sector. Furthermore, any non-profit, organization, church
or school can apply for a special event permit. Regardless of event experience or training.
This in my opinion has created the large
disconnect, and the gap in communication. As well as I think created a
false sense of security at events, as attendees, as planners. We event planners think the PD know what their doing, and
we focus on bigger better events; they don't think like event planners and we don't think like PD.
Anyway, I've had or taken additional training by Homeland/FEMA (NSSE) and the Active Shooter training.
Then the Boston marathon happened, and
honesty, we heard nothing from the govt, even as a govt entity. It's
just concerning, that seemingly nothing changed between the Boston
Marathon and the Vegas shooting!! Could a Safety Submit of all
the brains together prevent or lessen the next attack? There seemed to
be a missed opportunity there.
I think setting higher industry standards,
providing additional resources for our member's - since our members are
BOTH private and public sectors, is going to be very valuable!! I don't
see the government trying anything like this. I think
within their own organizations; FBI, PD's, etc, they think they can
tackle it with increased presence and fire power. But lack of the
willingness to approach event planners, or they aren't connecting the
dots (for a lack of a better term). When we have the
opportunity here to provide an effective educational opportunity here,
an industry first, combining organization's knowledge. A platform for
prevention.
Anyway, thanks again Mr. Ashwin! Please let know if you need any additional information, or want to talk!
#choachella #eventsecurity #fbi #vegasshooting #VegasStrong #Sayyoursorry #drones #toolittletoolate
This was the email sent out 4-14-18: Supposedly complied by
"Coachella using drones, security plans enacted after 9/11 to prevent another Las Vegas-type incident"
Drones and more armed security will be
employed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this month to
help to prevent the kind of horrific attack that left 58 people dead at a
Las Vegas music festival in in October.
Goldenvoice
president and CEO Paul Tollett says a planned increase in armed
security is proportionate with the festival’s growth and changes in
society.
“It’s just a part of safety,” he said in
an interview last month on the music festival grounds. “There are more
people at the show, so, it’s a higher profile.”
Roughly
250,000 people are expected at the festival April 13-15 and April 20-22
at two Indio polo clubs, and Indio police say they can assure those
fans, and their parents, that a nationwide team of law enforcement and
security personnel are planning for every contingency learned from
previous catastrophes.
“Our
number one priority is public safety,” said public information officer
Sgt. Dan Marshall. “We want people to know that they’re safe. We want
people to know that we are well planned.”
Drones have been called a “radical”
new security implementation. Marshall said their use is an experiment.
Goldenvoice has contracted with a licensed, certified drone service to
be put at the disposal of the Indio police. The department will use it
to view traffic problems and “issues that pop up." But those issues are
undetermined.
“We don’t know if this is the type of
event that lends itself to (drones),” said Marshall. “We have to follow
all rules. We can’t over-fly cars, we can’t over-fly crowds, we can’t
do any of that stuff unless we deem that it’s a public safety issue.
Then we could make that happen.
“(But,)
let’s say we’re getting reports that there’s a lot of traffic at an
intersection and the drone goes to look at that intersection. It can’t
fly down the middle of the street. It has to stay in a route where it’s
not over-flying homes or people or anything like that.
“We’re really this year going to see what their use is at this type of event.”
Marshall,
like Tollett, declined to reveal details of the Coachella security
plan. But, Marshall said most health and security measures are more
subtle than drones and armed guards.
The plan to move the large, electronic music-filled Sahara tent
west, away from the mid-size Mojave and Gobi tents, is significant,
Marshall said, because it will lighten human traffic patterns. Security
people look at whether a pass-through area is too narrow, causing
congestion that increases stress, or too broad, which could cause the
festival to lose space on another congested field at the Empire and
Eldorado polo clubs.
Planners
and security people, he said, have conversations as mundane as, “Man,
I’m going to taper this cone pattern and make it 20 feet longer and
that’s going to alleviate traffic just that much more!”
Security planning has been a priority since the
festival’s launch in 1999, Tollett said. But more entities are now
involved in the planning.
Following the shooting at
the Route 91 Harvest Music festival in Las Vegas, plus mass killings in
the past two years at nightclubs in Miami and Manchester, England, and
the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, France, more than 1,000 live event
producers gathered for an industry conference at the Las Vegas Mandalay
Bay Resort and Casino, where a man had fired on Route 91 festival-goers
from the 32nd floor just two months earlier.
Police,
fire, federal Homeland Security officials, private security officials
and even the head of customer safety for the Las Vegas Conventions and
Visitors Authority spoke at the XLIVE conference on issues ranging from training to detect improvised explosive devices to a federal program
that encourages promoters to share proprietary information with
security partners by protecting them from civil liability and Freedom of
Information Act requests.
The overriding message of a seminar and workshop on safety and security was, “The importance of planning can’t be overstated.”
Ashour
Ebrahim, director of health and safety for AEG Presents, Goldenvoice’s
partner in Coachella and many other music festivals across the country,
said in an interview at the XLIVE conference he works with multiple law
enforcement and security officials to create unique security plans for
each festival.
“Coachella is a totally different
environment and experience than a smaller venue we would have in, for
example, Oklahoma (home of Rocklahoma), which is a heavy metal,” he
said. “So, it can’t be one size fits all. Every festival, we look at
their security plans and, if there’s a best practice, we adopt it.
“It
takes all security professionals to work together with federal, state
and local partners, private sector security companies. How are we going
to try to prevent these (mass shooting) events from happening? That
takes a lot of proper planning in order to see what the needs are.”
Some
of the more visible measures the AEG and Goldenvoice security teams
have implemented are walking metal detectors, or magnetometers, which
measure changes in the magnetic field, and dog patrols.
“If
you’ve been to Coachella, you see the police presence in trying to
guide the traffic,” said Ebrahim, a former FBI official who had his own
security firm before joining AEG. “If they’re standing in our queues,
they see our security personnel. We have dog patrols, and those are
tangible things that people can actually see. Granted, some people may
feel, why do I have to have my bags searched? Well, it’s exactly for
that reason. It’s a tangible approach. We’re not trying to inconvenience
you, we’re trying to protect everyone else, including yourself.”
The
way Coachella officials respond to emergency incidents is determined by
a federal protocol for private and public sector agencies established
after 9/11. President George W. Bush issued a Homeland Security
Presidential Directive to establish a National Incident Management
System, which led to the creation of a State Emergency Management
System, known collectively NIMS SEMS.
In layman’s
language, it ensures that police can talk to fire personnel, fire can
talk to the ambulance operators, and the ambulances can talk to the
police.
“When you get at that level of the person
who’s actually trying to orchestrate and bring some calm and some order
to a chaotic situation,” said Marshall, “communication among the first
responders is paramount. That lesson was learned at 9/11, where even
different fire departments could not talk to each other.”
Goldenvoice
takes that communication protocol to another level: enabling first
responders to communicate with their private security personnel.
“Something
that makes this concert so amazing is that the promoter, Goldenvoice,
has taken the time to invest that training to their staff,” said
Marshall. “Law enforcement trains all their sworn officers in the basics
of NIMS SEMS. As you move up in rank and positions of responsibility,
you’re trained deeper in the operations of NIMS and SEMS, to where you
are a director of a department or a commander.
“We
operate under that purview with the first responders – police, fire, and
AMR (American Medical Response). So, they’re part of the incident
command. You have those three incident commanders in the same room and
they all know how it’s supposed to run. You get that communication so
you can get the resources you need to help people (and) contain the
situation when you have an incident.
“Goldenvoice
has done an amazing job, probably like no other company I’ve ever heard
of, to train their people in this incident command system, to the point
that I know when I look over to this security director, he understands
that language because he has been through the same training as I have.
To have first responders and civilians on the same page – in how the
incident is going to be managed – that is remarkable. That is how things
function and that’s why this festival has been so successful.”
The
type of incident determines whether law enforcement, fire or AMR should
be the main incident commander under the NIMS SEMS protocol. But, until
a law has been broken, the Goldenvoice security team is in charge of
protection. The AEG team works in concert with them.
“Law
enforcement is there to help us, support us," Ebrahim said. "God
forbids something happens, that’s when law enforcement will take over
and we, as a private sector entity, will follow their instructions.
Whether they’re state and local cops or whether the FBI comes in if it’s
an act of terrorism, then we simply do whatever they tell us. If
there’s nothing going on, we’re just running a show. They’re sitting in
our command posts. If they see something they don’t like, they tell us,
‘Hey, can you put more guards over here?’ If we see something we don’t
like, we tell them, ‘Hey, can you send a couple uniformed personnel to
deal with this?’ It’s a partnership.”
The
determination of whether an incident is an act of terrorism generally
occurs after the incident has occurred, Marshall said. Then local law
enforcement assists the FBI and Homeland Security. Before that, they're
there to assist the Indio Police Department.
Marshall
said public safety is their No. 1 priority, but Ebrahim said the
private sector security doesn’t want the fans to have to be aware of
that.
“People
need to know we’re doing everything possible to make them safe,” he
said. “So, as soon as they walk into any of our festivals, the only
thing they want to consider is, ‘Where am I eating? Which act am I
seeing?’ We want them to have a heck of a time and go back (on) social
media, ‘Best time ever. I’m going to be going to Coachella for the next
20 years.’ That’s what I worry about. The fan experience. I don’t want
them to think about security.”
The Indio Police is
also using social media as a community tool. It was one of 15 law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. selected to participate in a 21st
Century Policing Initiative created by President Obama. Marshall was
named head of the Indio Police Social Media Team last fall. The Indio
Police now has more than 1,000 Twitter followers and 1,000 Instagram
followers, and it reaches 8,000 households via Nextdoor.com.
The six pillars of the 21st century police initiative
are transparency, legitimacy, social media, technology, officer safety
and wellness. Police officers began carrying tourniquets two months ago
to assist with wellness and that has already helped an officer save a
life after an automobile accident.
Ebrahim said spending money on expensive technology isn’t always as important as good customer relations.
“We
hire private security vendors and they do the vetting and validation of
their guards, and they have to understand, we don’t want a bouncer
mentality,” he said. “This is a guest experience and we as security,
health and safety are all about that guest experience. We’d much rather
say, ‘How can we help you?’ than ‘Why are you doing X, Y and Z?’ A smile
on their face goes a long way. For us, our guest experience is our
number one priority because we want them coming back and having a good
time."
Marshall said that's not inconsistent with 21st century policing.
“It’s
all about legitimacy,” he said. “If the people you’re serving don’t
believe you have a legitimate purpose to police them, that’s where you
get a lot of these communities that are at odds with the police.”
Tollett said planning is the number one thing a festival promoter can do to prevent mass violence.
“Having a plan for anticipation of troubles,” he said. “It’s just an ongoing, 365-day thing for us. Safety.”
But
he also believes in using technology to assist law enforcement.
Festival-goers must wear wristbands that contain chips that help count
the number of festival-goers and identify when they come in and out of
different parts of the fields.
“Because of the
wristband thing, we have a system,” said Tollett. “We want to know who’s
here. Everyone’s got documentation on a wristband. So, we know when
they come in.”
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