CROWD CONTROL

When your plans don’t work, what do you do?

Gary Ray, Executive Director - WVSSAC

“CROWD CONTROL ISSUES”

Preparing for the problem will assist in preventing the problem

PREPARING FOR STATE EVENTS

• Site Selection A. Bid Process

1. Request to Host 2. Football Request to Host

B. Site Approval

PRE-TOURNAMENT INFORMATION FOR SITE DIRECTOR

• Tournament Director Checklist • Spectator Support Sheet

PRE-TOURNAMENT MEETING FOR EVENT

• Meeting held with site management A. Review plan for tournament

1. Meeting information sheet for basketball B. Pre-Tournament meeting includes review of

security plan for pre-during-post event situations

C. Pre-tournament meeting with contest officials

POST - TOURNAMENT MEETING

• Review tournament plan A. What worked? B. What problems occurred and how were they

handled? C. If we had problems, how can they be avoided

in future events?

QUESTIONS

WHEN YOUR PLANS DON’T WORK,

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Relationship of GHSA and member schools in setting guidelines for regular season contests.

For post-season competitions played at a school venue, regular season guidelines in place

For post-season competitions played at community or collegiate venues, host sites guidelines are primary/GHSA are secondary

2.22: Members shall operate all interscholastic contests under complete & direct control of school administration.

2.26: Members have the responsibility to educate students, coaches, and other persons on GHSA rules/procedures, and should monitor compliance with those guidelines.

2.71: Members are required to conduct all relationships with other schools in a spirit of good sportsmanship.

2.71c1: Take proper steps & precautions to insure crowd control, including having a Game Manager at all GHSA events.

2.71c2: Take steps to insure comfort & security of all players, coaches, and officials.

2.71c3: Have in place sufficient security personnel to handle any crowd control problems that might be reasonably expected.

2.71c4: Security escorts must be provided for game officials by the host school before & after contest, at halftime, and even to their vehicles.

2.71d: Each school must develop a plan to handle fight situations that may occur at an athletic contest. Attention must be given to keeping substitutes in the bench area & to keeping spectators away from the competition area.

2.71e: Players and coaches are expected to exhibit good sportsmanship before & after a contest – even if game officials do not have jurisdiction.

Enforcement of seating limits at venue Separation of spectators (as possible) Prior communication with visiting teams Security escorts for teams and for officials Security around competition area Security in parking areas Emergency plan for fight situations Emergency evacuation plans

Host school provides Principal or designate with decision-making

authority Works with officiating crew in regard to:

Crowd sportsmanship issues Serious injury issues Weather-related emergencies Escort to and from competitive area

Coordinates other security personnel “Custodian” of the lightning detector

20+ minutes after football game was over Both teams involved in a multi-player altercation

– mostly verbal BUT – helmets were thrown and some punches

may have been exchanged Several players injured One head coach seriously injured

Law Enforcement officers intervened with pepper spray

One exit gate from field of play to field house for use by players and coaches

One major walkway to the locker rooms at the field house Visiting team’s locker room door on side of building Home team’s locker room door on the end of

building Parking lot and major exit path for fans of both

schools located in the same general area as the field house

Neighboring county rivals - students know each other

Fired coach now at other school Visiting team’s manager lost locker room key Coaches from both teams stayed on field after

game Law enforcement spread thin with various

post-game duties Game Manager went to take care of gate

receipts

Both schools sent discrepant reports to me Officials had already left stadium – no reports Host community law enforcement claimed ongoing

investigation – no report Visiting school alleged police brutality & asked

Georgia Bureau of Investigation to intervene – and later, so did local sheriff

GBI requested GHSA to delay any actions until after their investigation had ended.

Visiting school refused to play in region basketball tournament lest they might face other school

Grand Jury heard evidence about the alleged assault on the coach

Grand Jury (in town of host school) did not indict anyone

Host school has filed a complaint against injured coach with Georgia Professional Standards Commission alleging coach was assaulting their player when hurt

Coach has retained attorney for possible civil case

The Executive Director handled all the investigation work for the GHSA Read multiple reports from both schools Reviewed media articles and tapes – nationwide Read 1400+ pages of interviews conducted by GBI

Boiled down to one key questions: Did the host

school take reasonable precautions to meet the expectations of the GHSA?

Divergent data made it impossible to determine individual guilt

But -- injuries to a professional educator could not be ignored

Standards demanded in GHSA by-laws for institutional control were not met: Previous events and community rumors should have

warranted heightened security Site set up should have made coaches &

administrators more vigilant

All athletic programs at host school placed on Supervisory Probation for two years

Host school must file a detailed “Security Plan” for home games for my approval by July 15, 2012 Monitoring flow of players to/from dressing areas Law enforcement and school security deployment plan Contingency plan for rivalry games/games with larger

attendance expected Host School fined for not meeting standards for

institutional control My decision was appealed by school – GHSA Appeal

Board sustained my penalties

While this incident not really a crowd control issue, the same principles do apply.

Administrators cannot develop plans that account for every eventuality that might occur.

BUT -- try to account for as many variables as possible when planning.

THEN -- have back up contingencies to “clean up” the unforeseen happenings.

Review & revise plans when you discover issues you have not considered previously.