Modeling the Impact of Patron Screening at an NFL Stadium

The Department of Homeland Security identifies stadium safety as a crucial component of risk mitigation in the US. Patron screening poses difficult trade-offs for security officials: rigorous screening prevents weapons from entering the structure, but it also creates lines that become security hazards and may be infeasible if patrons are to get into the stadium within a few minutes of the beginning of the game. In order to quantitatively inform venues about how different screening procedures will affect their venue, we developed a patron screening model together with security personnel at a National Football League (NFL) stadium. Our model specifically addresses the speed of screening using different procedures: walk-through magnetometers, wandings, and patdowns. We then created a real-time simulation of queue formation using the physical arrangement of gates at the stadium. This allowed for analysis based on different patron screening procedures and configurations. We validated our model and simulation using ticket scan data and security director experience. Our approach is generic enough for any stadium and has been used to explore inspection protocols at multiple venues including an NBA arena. We also successfully demonstrated our work to NFL Security.