Eye on Tailgating: Clemson amps up Game Day Security

By Carroll R. Walton, carroll@insidetailgating.com

When three people were shot and killed in a mass shooting at the Garlic Food Festival in Gilroy, Calif. this past July, it felt like a wake-up call to the entire tailgating community. To have tragedy strike at an outdoor venue where thousands of people gather to enjoy great food, beverage and hospitality, it hit close to home.

We can’t help but be reminded of our own vulnerability as we head out to parking lots across college football and the NFL this fall. And we aren’t the only ones. Teams are taking a closer look at their security practices. In the case of national football powerhouse Clemson, a school with a legendary tailgating tradition, gameday security has been beefed up both inside the stadium and out.

The preseason No. 1 and defending national champion Clemson has implemented a comprehensive metal detector policy this fall, for starters. There are now metal detectors at each gate at Memorial Stadium, the 80,000-seat venue better known as Death Valley.

“The safety and security of our fans is absolutely the top priority for what we do,” said Jeff Kallin, Clemson associate athletic director for communications and strategic initiatives. “Not only just our fans but our coaches, our staff, our student-athletes—anybody that’s in that stadium or anywhere around Clemson.”

Clemson still allows “pass-outs” which means fans can leave the stadium to go back to the parking lots during the game and still get back into the stadium. That’s on top of the 10,000 to 20,000 people estimated to arrive on campus to tailgate without having tickets to the game.

“We’ve seen a number of incredibly tragic events over the course of the last 10 to 15 years,” Kallin said. “Even here in the last year, it’s something that we’re constantly reminded of, of making sure that the response of ‘that can’t happen here’ is no longer an acceptable response. (Your security policy) has got to be proactive. We need to do everything that we can in as many ways as we can to make sure that people are safe.”

Clemson is taking big steps to do just that, not only by implementing the use of metal detectors, but also by increasing their efforts to protect fans both at the stadium and beyond it. Leading the effort is new Clemson police chief and associate vice president for public safety Greg Mullen.

Mullen spent 11 years as chief of police in Charleston, S.C. including 2015 when a mass shooter killed nine people at a bible study at the Emanuel AME Church.

“It could be a terrorist attack or some sort of incident that we hopefully never have, but we’ve got to be prepared,” Mullen said in a press release.

Under Mullen’s direction, Clemson has removed 140 parking spaces from the north end of the stadium that he believed posed security risks. Clemson has also installed four video boards on the outside of the stadium—one at each corner, facing the parking lots—to help inform fans of safety concerns, whether they’re weather-related, traffic-related or regarding criminal activity. Mullen is also the point man at the helm of Clemson’s Incident Command Center. That’s a new off-site facility where representatives from a dozen organizations ranging from campus police, fire, EMS and S.C. Highway Patrol gather to monitor game day security. They utilize a series of video cameras and radio communications with officers stationed around campus to monitor activity in and around the parking lots.

Under Mullen’s direction last year, the Incident Command Center was moved off site from inside Memorial Stadium, in part so it wouldn’t be threatened by an incident at the stadium.

“I think it’s really important for people to know there are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes to make these events as safe and secure as they are,” Mullen said. “It takes a lot of people, a lot of planning, and a lot of training. I’m really proud of all the effort and hard work this team puts in. Game days are exactly what they should be because of them.”

Clemson also recently announced that it would begin using a team of faculty and students from its communications department to help monitor social media before, during and after home football games this fall.

Working large-scale events in Charleston like the Cooper River Bridge Run convinced Mullen how essential it is to monitor social media.

He cited a recent report from the U.S. Secret Service which found that 79 percent of those who perpetrated mass attacks in 2017 did so after engaging in threatening or concerning communications, much of which occurred over social media.

“Our team in the Incident Command Center is tasked with looking at the big picture of game day security,” Mullen said. “And social media monitoring is a great way to help bring that picture into focus.”

Another advantage Clemson has in terms of game day security is the sheer volume of police on campus, there in large measure to help control traffic.

“For football game days there is a significant police presence all around,” Kallin said. “Hopefully that’s part of what goes into making people feel secure.”

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