Auburn’s Athletic Department implemented a clear bag policy for football games in March to improve safety and accelerate gate access.
Cassie Arner, associate athletics director for strategic communications, said that many large venues hosting college football have also taken the recommendation from Homeland Security and safety specialists.
“This year eight SEC schools are implementing it and then it will be a league-wide implantation for 2017,” Arner said. “The NFL has been doing it for a few years and most of your major bowl games have started doing it a few years ago, because they are operating under those same recommendations and usually are hosting concerts and other big events.”
The initiative was launched in March and the six months following was dedicated to getting the word out by using traditional social media methods, briefings before press conferences and flyers being sent out with ever ticket and season ticket sent out.
“We also sent every season ticket holder a clear bag and all of our donors were also given a clear bag,” Arner said. “We did a lot of education with our vendors around town."
Arner said the policy will allow fans to bring their purchased items into the stadium with them.
"On a game day a lot of our fans will go buy t-shirts and things from the bookstores and we wanted to make sure those bookstores were providing them a bag when they purchased their items that would also be permissible inside the stadium," Arner said.
The event security staff is trained by security forces in Auburn, such as the Police and Fire Departments, on campus annually to practice scanning and checking bags diligently.
Everyone who enters the stadium planning on carrying a bag must follow the 12 by 12 by 6 clear bag rule, expect those who have medical needs.
“There are some people who have medical needs, so we have set aside two specific gates where those who may have a special medical device or a bag that they need to carry more things then what would fit in the size of the clear bags,” Arner said.
People who carry things needed for infants and small children are also placed in the exception category, but at those gates there's more stringent security, Arner said.
“Everything in the bag should be loose so there shouldn’t be the need, as we have had in the past, to go through and put hands inside bags and move things around,” Arner said. “With it being clear you should be able to see everything and the largest piece you should have in there should be a wallet. At that point we feel pretty comfortable that we are able to quickly glance and realize that you have a safe bag to bring in.”
Arner said they're placing skilled security at the gates, where the people with exceptions go through, to take the extra time to thoroughly search the bags to ensure safety.
There are four check-bag areas that are manned with security at all times located at the shuttle drop-off on War Eagle Way, the Auburn Arena, Plainsman Park and a semi parked outside gate one for those who have impermissible bags.
“The most popular one was we had a huge semi set up outside gate one and as people would come in they would put all their belongings in a Tupperware tub that would get wrapped up in cellophane tape in front of them and they would sign off on it and it would get put in the semi bed for safe keeping,” Arner said.
Arner said another precaution to ensure people were bringing permissible bags in is to place people at shuttle services that would be looking at the bags people were carrying to give them the option to run them back to their cars.
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