MUPD says it's ready for football crowds
MUPD is adding new safety measures to combat larger football crowds.
Sept. 5, 2008
In a year of high expectations at Faurot Field and a record freshman enrollment, MU authorities are more than a little worried about safety problems at Tiger football games.
MU police Capt. Brian Weimer said no measure would be spared to ensure crowd security.
"We've been planning for this since the end of last season," Weimer said. "We continually meet with the athletic department and other groups to talk about issues coming up this year."
Missouri's home opener is Saturday against Southeast Missouri State.
With record numbers of students and football fans, police will be in full force around Faurot Field in the coming weeks.
"We're looking at larger crowds," Weimer said. "We have personnel that meet weekly to discuss planning for the game, and we take a lot into consideration as far as whether it's a day game or a night game, expected crowd size, those types of things."
Weimer said police have no specific threats in mind, but they expect to be dealing with the same types of problems they've seen in years past, like alcohol-related arrests and car accidents after games end.
"We'll be doing things like bag checks and making sure there are no signs with poles sticking out of them, rules to make sure there are no objects that can injure people," Weimer said.
For its part, the athletic department is optimistic about its prospects for this season and would like to prevent student antics from being a focal point of the season.
"We're working in close conjunction with MUPD and the city of Columbia Police Department and the highway patrol, which monitor both inside and outside the stadium," said Colleen Lamond, director of game operations for the athletic department.
New athletic department policies this year include include a 16-by-9-inch size limit on all personal items entering the stadium, a larger staff of ushers to guide fans around the stadium and more ticket takers to ensure a speedy entry for all fans.
With the largest number of season tickets ever sold, more than 40,000, Lamond said the athletic department wants to "promote as much as possible that people come with their ticket and ID, no large purses, no large bags."
The football team's expectations, coupled with the swarm of students who have never lived on campus before, present a force that authorities will try to contain.
MU police and athletic department officials said they hope no one gets in trouble at football games, though they stressed they will be vigilant in tracking down unruly behavior.
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