Crowd Management Planning

Safety aspects at facilities are routinely inspected by the Fire Division and Building Department to assure their compliance with City regulations. The adherence to numerous City codes is pivotal to providing safe environment for the public. What is needed beyond that is a method for assessing a facility management's or an event promoter's preparedness to accommodate its patrons safety. Having a formal crowd management plan is equally as important as compliance with safety regulations. The City should require crowd management plans of all facilities and/or event promoters contemplating hosting or sponsoring events attracting 2,000 or more people. These plans should be prepared in writing and presented to the City for public filing. Plans could be written for categories of events and, when necessary, for specific events. The format and requirements of a plan should be determined by the City, facility operators, private security, promoters and other concerned parties.

A copy of a facility's crowd management plan should be on file with the City and accessible to the public so they may understand what kind of crowd management to expect. The required filing of a plan will make it difficult for complacency to return to the issue of crowd safety.