Final effort

Editorial: Grant Condon

Photography: Jesse Wray-McCann

When the eight competing teams in the 2019 AFL finals series take to the field for their season-deciding matches this month, there will be a ninth team that will never get to play in front of adoring fans.

Instead, the Victoria Police team tasked with maintaining law and order on match days will use all their training and what they’ve learned from the 23-round regular season to ensure the safety of tens of thousands of supporters.

It’s no easy feat. Finals see Melbourne’s two AFL venues, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Marvel Stadium, transformed into “their own independent cities”, populated by up to 100,000 inhabitants, mostly divided into two fiercely rival tribes.

Two of the key players in this epic crowd control task are Inspector Jamie Templeton and Senior Sergeant Henry Van Andel.

Insp Jamie Templeton and Sen Sgt Henry Van Andel are ready for the AFL finals and the massive police effort it takes to keep the crowds safe.

Their pre-game preparation, game day execution and postmatch review are not dissimilar to that of an AFL team.

Here’s how they help Victoria Police get a winning result on a game day.

The pre-game

When the AFL’s fixture is released prior to the season, the State Event Planning Unit (SEPU) analyses what days and times games will be played, the venue, crowd estimates and behavioural history to identify potential high-risk matches.

This forms a season-long blueprint for police to follow and indicates where and when resources should be allocated, but it is flexible – a week is a long time in football, after all.

The more intangible and unique aspects of football, like club rivalries, the current success or misfortune of teams and recent events in the world of AFL, see the model adjusted accordingly.

The information gained by SEPU is fed to Insp Templeton and the Licensing and Public Safety team of North West Metro Region’s Specialist Operations, which communicates daily with stakeholders such as the AFL, stadium managers and security contractors to develop a match plan.

When game day arrives, police assigned to patrol the game – often a group of more than 100 during finals – are briefed two to three hours before the game and then set to work.

They spread much further than the stadium itself, covering the major transport hubs connected to the grounds and the many footbridges and other access points.

“Coming into the finals, we see the footprint of the venues getting bigger and bigger,” Sen Sgt Van Andel said.

“For a final at the MCG, there are activations all the way to Federation Square and into the city. It’s a massive event.”

Football teams consider the third term of a match to be the game-deciding “premiership quarter”, while for Victoria Police it’s the initial stages of patrol that play a major role in how the day will play out.

“We want people to see police on their way into the ground,” Insp Templeton said.

“I encourage officers to interact with the crowd around the ground and in the bars before the game to build a rapport with the fans. It really breaks down any barriers that may arise later on.”

The four quarters

With the crowds in, smaller police teams begin patrolling the venue.

At the MCG, police take prime position in a specially-designed operations centre. It’s a crow’s nest-like room that sits high above the ground offering a 360-degree view of the on-field action and, more importantly, the grandstands below.

Perched within it are Insp Templeton and Sen Sgt Van Andel.

In his role as Police Commander, Insp Templeton is in charge of the strategic direction of the police patrols, while Venue Commander Sen Sgt Van Andel guides the officers in the stands to any issues that may arise.

At their disposal, Insp Templeton and Sen Sgt Van Andel have hundreds of CCTV cameras from all over the venue feeding vision back to monitors inside the operations centre.

They also have oversight of SMS lines where patrons can text in reports of anti-social behaviour.

But nothing comes close to boots on the ground, with patrolling officers on the look-out for any tell-tale signs of misbehaviour.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the people end up really arresting themselves,” Insp Templeton said.

“We give people a lot of opportunities to correct their behaviour. If the presence of security, police officers and a warning doesn’t do it, we will eject them for the safety and enjoyment of the people around them.”

The most common problems in the crowd are drunken behaviour, contraband such as alcohol being brought into the venue, underage alcohol consumption and antisocial behaviour, including abuse being levelled at players, umpires and other fans.

At the more serious end of offending, assaults can occur and have been seen in the 2019 season.

“The nature of the game can dictate how the crowd is behaving,” Insp Templeton said.

“If a team is 50 points down at the end of the third quarter, we can see supporters become unhappy, agitated.

“Or if it’s close, we won’t see problems until the end of the game when emotions are running high.”

The post game

With the game decided, players head into the change rooms to rest, while police enter what’s known as the “fifth quarter”.

As thousands of fans hurry for the exits, walkways, ramps and public transport hubs become choked.

It can be a volatile time as rival fans, half celebrating a win and half disappointed by a loss, are forced into close quarters.

“All it can take for something to escalate is a comment from one fan aimed at another,” Insp Templeton said.

“Sometimes it can be as innocuous as someone bumping into another person and spilling their beer.”

If the exit phase of the game passes without incident, police end their patrols and Insp Templeton and Sen Sgt Van Andel begin a debrief with representatives from the AFL, security groups, paramedics, catering services and the stadium's licenced venues.

One thing that isn’t discussed is the football itself.

“One of the keys to success is maintaining situational awareness of what’s going on off the field. It’s a trap to take your eyes off the crowd and pay more attention to what’s happening on the ground,” Sen Sgt Van Andel said.

“We might see a maximum of 15 minutes of the game and most of that is prompted by the crowd responding to something that happens. We need to have some awareness of what’s happening on the field, to understand how people are acting off it.”

Insp Templeton is quick to point out the vast majority of games pass without major incident.

“Assessing the environment, we can have 80,000 people – the population of large cities – in a confined area, alcohol consumption and a fair bit of passion; the risk level can be quite high,” Insp Templeton said.

“However, we often see only four or five evictions, some for relatively minor things like offensive language.

“Those numbers show that the football is an incredibly safe environment for fans and that the work police do with all the other stakeholders is effective.”

Find out how you can join Victoria Police at police.vic.gov.au/careers