The city of Indianapolis is no stranger to hosting large crowds of sports fans, boasting six NCAA Final Four tournaments since 1980 as well as the annual Indianapolis 500. This year, for the first time, they are welcoming the NFL Super Bowl and a myriad of football superfans to the Lucas Oil Stadium, a multi-purpose sports stadium that opened in 2008.

According to Hallmark research, the average number of people attending a Super Bowl party is 18. Indianapolis is expecting to welcome approximately ten thousand times as many fans at Super Bowl XLVI. Unfortunately for the city, their preparations are a little different than vacuuming the living room and making special dip.

To prepare for every possible disaster, City officials, law enforcement, and Lucas Oil Stadium workers have been working together since 2008, when Indianapolis officially defeated Houston TX and Glendale AZ for the bid to host this year’s Super Bowl on February 5. The biggest concern for each host city and what sets the Super Bowl apart from other huge mainstream sporting events is the ten days of pre-game celebrations and activities leading up to the big game.

The Homeland Department of Security has designated the event a Level One security event, which means that the federal government can provide incredible financial and technological assistance in the name of safety. The social significance of Super Bowls has previously been likened to presidential inaugurations, thanks to the presence of various celebrities and political figures as well as football enthusiasts flocking from every state in the nation.

In past years, Super Bowl hosts have used a variety of interesting methods to guarantee the safety of fans in attendance, event staff, and NFL team members including players, coaches, assistants and more. At the 2011 Super Bowl, held at Cowboys Station in Arlington TX, fans were surrounded by bomb-sniffing canine units, low-flying government planes, police horses, robots and much more, with an estimated five to six million dollar budget for security alone. In 2010, a no-fly zone was imposed for 30 miles around the Sun Life stadium in Miami Gardens FL.

Some notable and creative preparations for this year:

- Police officers equipped with smartphones will be roaming the streets and the stadium in the hundreds. The handheld electronics will enable them to submit photos and video footage to a central database at their new operations center, or to cruisers ready to give backup. These officers will be on the watch for suspicious activity, including violence, pickpocketing, prostitution, counterfeit merchandise, and other dubious behavior.

- Curiously, Indianapolis occasionally suffers from unpredictable underground explosions in Indianapolis Power & Light’s network of utility cables. These explosions have, in the past, turned manhole covers into projectiles, threatening the safety of pedestrians and vehicle traffic.

While mindful that prevention is the best cure, IPL has wisely invested in 150 locking manhole covers for the primary areas of heavy Super Bowl circulation to protect visitors to the city until it can come up with an all-encompassing solution.

- All delivery trucks will be subjected to x-ray-esque security scans at the perimeter of Super Bowl activity. These trucks will be checked for explosive, biological and radioactive threats.

- The City of Indianapolis is bringing in backup agencies. The FBI, Secret Service, DEA, and U.S. Immigration & Customers Enforcement officers will be participating behind the scenes to ramp up security higher than it has been at any past Super Bowl.

If you’re planning to attend this year, make sure you leave the following items at home, where they may or may not belong:

Fireworks
Camcorders
Umbrellas
Strollers
Beach balls
Backpacks

An event takes a great deal of time and planning. From birthday parties, to weddings, to corporate functions there are so many details to manage. Things like guest lists, food, décor, and location are just a handful of what goes into preparing an event. What every event coordinator wants whether professional or novice is for the occasion to go smoothly and safely. A hiccup or two is bound to happen, but when it comes to the security if the event, the coordinator cannot be too careful.

Hotels, convention centers and restaurants are the focus when picking a venue and the always offer their own onsite security. Though this security may be sufficient for their daily working and functioning it can prove to be lacking when it comes to an event. Luckily, there are options when it comes to hiring out for security. Although as a consumer and planner, it is best to take into consideration that not all security companies are trained for event security. Employing the wrong security for a celebratory event can completely ruin the gala.

Whether it is a person that drank excessively or a group of people at an event that happen in looking for trouble, the basic in house security may fall short. The interest of the venue security is to protect their venue and prevent a lawsuit. Personal safety of guests inside and outside the event as well as protecting the interests of the promoter themselves will not be a main concern for the security employed by the venue. It may be prudent for the coordinator to look into hiring outside private security that can protect the interests of the event planner and his/her event.

Companies like Maximum Security Inc., offer specific services related to protection and safety of people during events as well as other personal situations. If a company does not offer this sort of security training in its specifics then they may in fact not be equipped to deal with the protection of people in an event situation. Maximum Security Inc. offers services that match the need that an event would require and suggest a free consultation so that there is the maximum level of comfort and protection needed by the customer.

The event planner has enough to accomplish without having to be responsible for the security and maintaining the safety of his/her guests. A private company like Maximum Security Inc. can take the stress out of the event by professionally dealing with security issues in a manner that will not disturb the event or the guest, insuring that the happening will take on the atmosphere of a stress free occasion.

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