The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has now approved more than 1,000 anti-terrorism technologies used in public places for legal protections over the last 15 years.
Established under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act, the program encourages the private sector to develop and deploy innovative technologies in sporting venues, commercial properties, corporate headquarters and other places where large crowds.
“The thousandth approval commemorates expansion of the program, not just because of quantity, but quality of anti-terrorism security capabilities and technologies,” Bruce Davidson, director of S&T’s SAFETY Act program, said. “Any product, service, or software that helps officials identify, detect, deter, respond to or mitigate acts of terror may be candidates for approval.”
The National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) all have SAFETY Act-approved technologies and security systems in place at sporting venues. The NFL began its partnership with the S&T Office of SAFETY Act implementation in 2008, making it the program’s longest-running partnership.
Doug Collins of the Green Bay Packers aid going through the process at Lambeau Field “allowed us to verify we have all the best practices in place to provide a safe and secure venue.” Lambeau Field received SAFETY Act protections in 2016.
“These best practices address most aspects of the venue’s security operations, including life safety, evacuations, patron screening, security equipment, delivery and loading dock screening, command and control, security personnel, access control, training, and more,” Davidson said. “The bottom line is: They are doing more to ensure the safety of everyone at their locations.”
Eight NFL stadiums, three MLB stadiums, and one NBA stadium have received SAFETY Act approvals. Program criteria require that the technology has demonstrated effectiveness, is available for immediate deployment, sale or service of the technology brings “extraordinarily large” risk of third-party liability, capabilities can be assessed through scientific studies and the technology effectively defends against terrorism.
“Since expanding into the stadium and arena mission space, we are a dedicated partner with the leagues and individual franchises offering incentives to continually invest in improving security for their facilities and their fans,” Davidson said.