NBA All-Star Game AND Events
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 1:03 pm
We all know we cannot carry at professional sporting events. What about NBA sanctioned events associated with the All-Star events of the weekend?
Apparently Dallas City officials made a deal with the NBA that no weapons would be brought into any venue associated with the events unless they were the weapons of uniformed or on duty officers. This specifically excludes legally concealed-weapons carried by licensed CHL holders in places such as the Dallas Convention Center, which is a city-owned property. When does the legislature get involved so that cities cannot circumvent state law?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 5f00f.html
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Security works to make All-Star Weekend safe
07:57 AM CST on Friday, February 12, 2010
By SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News
scrawford@dallasnews.com
The police won't be everywhere during NBA All-Star Weekend. That's just what they want you to think.
From downtown Dallas to Jerry's World in Arlington, authorities say they've been working and planning for most of the past year to make the biggest All-Star spectacle ever – and the first in North Texas since 1986 – also one of the safest.
Also Online
NBA All-Star Weekend 2010: Resources, news and information
"I'd like to think we've got it in hand," said Bernie Tolbert, the NBA's senior vice president for security. "Meetings will take place throughout the weekend, and we can make changes if we need to. But we're pretty much where we want to be."
While many local officials see All-Star Weekend as a perfect test run for security plans at next year's Super Bowl, which will also be at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, police won't go quite that far.
"This isn't the same as the Super Bowl for us," said Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard, noting that the 90,000 fans expected for Sunday's game won't even be the biggest attendance of the stadium's relatively short life.
"There are things we are preparing for the Super Bowl, so this can be a little bit of a dry run, but then there are some things that won't apply," she said. "We're just making sure that our resources are placed where we expect the need will be the highest."
Nevertheless, an All-Star Week Executive Planning Team headed by Dallas First Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans has been meeting routinely with top law-enforcement and emergency officials in Dallas and Arlington, as well as the FBI, DART and NBA security staff, to prepare for the more than 50 NBA-sponsored events, plus dozens – if not hundreds – of unsanctioned ones.
The city activated its Emergency Operations Center in the basement of City Hall on Thursday. It will be the virtual nerve center for monitoring and coordinating security situations. Top police, fire and NBA security officials can stay in touch about potential problems, then map out strategies about how to handle them.
"We'll start in the mornings and go until things slow down," said Dallas Emergency Management Director Kenny Shaw, a member of the executive planning team. "But we're prepared to go 24-7 if we have to."
Officials won't reveal deep details of their safety plans, including how much of the city's overall $1.7 million All-Star Weekend budget went toward security, but they say there are a few things that fans, visitors and residents should definitely anticipate seeing:
•A heavy police presence: It's not quite an "all hands on deck" situation, but Shaw said "a whole bunch of police officers" will be visible throughout the city this weekend.
Dallas police Lt. Andy Harvey said authorities plan to have special teams of officers assigned to certain areas of the city to quickly respond to any problems, trying to halt them before they turn into major situations. And not all of the officers will be in uniform, Harvey said.
"We're going to have plainclothes officers as well, kind of monitoring what's going on," he said. "We'll have vice detectives and code enforcement out working to make sure illegal T-shirt sales are minimized. One thing we've done is to prepare for several different scenarios."
That includes plans to maintain law and order away from NBA-related activities, too.
"It's not going to be every single officer assigned to the NBA and downtown," Harvey said. "We realize that we can't disregard the rest of the city just because the NBA is here."
•Road closures: Officials aren't saying which roads will be closed – they're playing it by ear – but their plan is to make any closures temporary. But they won't make any promises.
"We have been working with the various North Texas safety people to develop a traffic plan and that plan is designed to minimize the amount of traffic," Tolbert said. "There will be more people, more cars, some delays, so people should plan for that."
•Metal detectors: Although walk-through metal detectors aren't routinely used at Mavericks games, they will likely be used by security staffers this weekend. Hand-held magnetometers are also expected to be in use, officials said.
"We have a policy in the NBA that deals with weapons at NBA events," Tolbert said. "We're not going to be allowing guns at our events. No weapons."
Tolbert said the policy applies to anyone who attends an NBA event, and Shaw said that, per the NBA's request, only uniformed law-enforcement officers will carry weapons at NBA-sanctioned events, even if a person has a concealed-weapons permit.
But despite the heavy police and security presence, officials say it all boils down to making sure that the up to 250,000 additional people expected here this weekend have a good time in a safe environment.
"Our goal is for nothing to happen. We want it to be a great weekend," Harvey said. "But when there are [a lot of] people, there is the potential for something bigger to occur. The bottom line, though, is we feel that we're prepared."
Apparently Dallas City officials made a deal with the NBA that no weapons would be brought into any venue associated with the events unless they were the weapons of uniformed or on duty officers. This specifically excludes legally concealed-weapons carried by licensed CHL holders in places such as the Dallas Convention Center, which is a city-owned property. When does the legislature get involved so that cities cannot circumvent state law?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 5f00f.html
Comments 5 | Recommend 16
RSS
Yahoo! Buzz
Share
Security works to make All-Star Weekend safe
07:57 AM CST on Friday, February 12, 2010
By SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News
scrawford@dallasnews.com
The police won't be everywhere during NBA All-Star Weekend. That's just what they want you to think.
From downtown Dallas to Jerry's World in Arlington, authorities say they've been working and planning for most of the past year to make the biggest All-Star spectacle ever – and the first in North Texas since 1986 – also one of the safest.
Also Online
NBA All-Star Weekend 2010: Resources, news and information
"I'd like to think we've got it in hand," said Bernie Tolbert, the NBA's senior vice president for security. "Meetings will take place throughout the weekend, and we can make changes if we need to. But we're pretty much where we want to be."
While many local officials see All-Star Weekend as a perfect test run for security plans at next year's Super Bowl, which will also be at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, police won't go quite that far.
"This isn't the same as the Super Bowl for us," said Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard, noting that the 90,000 fans expected for Sunday's game won't even be the biggest attendance of the stadium's relatively short life.
"There are things we are preparing for the Super Bowl, so this can be a little bit of a dry run, but then there are some things that won't apply," she said. "We're just making sure that our resources are placed where we expect the need will be the highest."
Nevertheless, an All-Star Week Executive Planning Team headed by Dallas First Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans has been meeting routinely with top law-enforcement and emergency officials in Dallas and Arlington, as well as the FBI, DART and NBA security staff, to prepare for the more than 50 NBA-sponsored events, plus dozens – if not hundreds – of unsanctioned ones.
The city activated its Emergency Operations Center in the basement of City Hall on Thursday. It will be the virtual nerve center for monitoring and coordinating security situations. Top police, fire and NBA security officials can stay in touch about potential problems, then map out strategies about how to handle them.
"We'll start in the mornings and go until things slow down," said Dallas Emergency Management Director Kenny Shaw, a member of the executive planning team. "But we're prepared to go 24-7 if we have to."
Officials won't reveal deep details of their safety plans, including how much of the city's overall $1.7 million All-Star Weekend budget went toward security, but they say there are a few things that fans, visitors and residents should definitely anticipate seeing:
•A heavy police presence: It's not quite an "all hands on deck" situation, but Shaw said "a whole bunch of police officers" will be visible throughout the city this weekend.
Dallas police Lt. Andy Harvey said authorities plan to have special teams of officers assigned to certain areas of the city to quickly respond to any problems, trying to halt them before they turn into major situations. And not all of the officers will be in uniform, Harvey said.
"We're going to have plainclothes officers as well, kind of monitoring what's going on," he said. "We'll have vice detectives and code enforcement out working to make sure illegal T-shirt sales are minimized. One thing we've done is to prepare for several different scenarios."
That includes plans to maintain law and order away from NBA-related activities, too.
"It's not going to be every single officer assigned to the NBA and downtown," Harvey said. "We realize that we can't disregard the rest of the city just because the NBA is here."
•Road closures: Officials aren't saying which roads will be closed – they're playing it by ear – but their plan is to make any closures temporary. But they won't make any promises.
"We have been working with the various North Texas safety people to develop a traffic plan and that plan is designed to minimize the amount of traffic," Tolbert said. "There will be more people, more cars, some delays, so people should plan for that."
•Metal detectors: Although walk-through metal detectors aren't routinely used at Mavericks games, they will likely be used by security staffers this weekend. Hand-held magnetometers are also expected to be in use, officials said.
"We have a policy in the NBA that deals with weapons at NBA events," Tolbert said. "We're not going to be allowing guns at our events. No weapons."
Tolbert said the policy applies to anyone who attends an NBA event, and Shaw said that, per the NBA's request, only uniformed law-enforcement officers will carry weapons at NBA-sanctioned events, even if a person has a concealed-weapons permit.
But despite the heavy police and security presence, officials say it all boils down to making sure that the up to 250,000 additional people expected here this weekend have a good time in a safe environment.
"Our goal is for nothing to happen. We want it to be a great weekend," Harvey said. "But when there are [a lot of] people, there is the potential for something bigger to occur. The bottom line, though, is we feel that we're prepared."
