Public-Private Chain of Command Secures L.A.'s Staples Center

Located on 10 acres in downtown Los Angeles, the Staples Center is nearly 1 million square feet - and seats anywhere from 12,900 to 20,000 people depending on the event.

With that many bodies in one place at one time, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and Staples Center management and employees must know their roles and responsibilities, and the command and control structure in case of an emergency.

"We've had all the tabletop exercises with local government, local law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security to talk about what we need to do as a facility when the first responders get here," said Lee Zeidman, Staples Center senior vice president and general manager. "Technically we're the first responders because we're here, but once they get here I'm not making the calls; I'm turning it over to the fire department, the LAPD, and if it's a crime scene, the FBI or Secret Service."

Hardening the Target
Staples Center is the anchor of the downtown Los Angeles "entertainment campus" called L.A. Live, which includes the 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre; a 54-story, 1,001-room convention hotel that combines the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott and 224 condominiums in a single tower; Club Nokia, a 2,200-seat live music venue; the 40,000-square-foot open-air Nokia Plaza for broadcast events, large celebrations and outdoor concerts; and a 14-screen movie theater complex, among other restaurants and shops.

Staples Center is owned by sports and entertainment presenter AEG Worldwide, and security is divided between two AEG teams. One team is responsible for activities and events inside the arena and the nearby Nokia Theatre. The other security team's responsibilities include the 1-acre plaza, two on-site parking structures and other surrounding exterior areas.

Hundreds of cameras monitor the entertainment complex. A command center is staffed day and night; walk-through security checkpoints that include a magnetometer - a device that measures magnetic fields - are used daily by event attendees and staff members. In addition, "crash-rated" planters made of concrete and synthetic-fiber Kevlar, are located in and around the building, Zeidman said.

Patrons approaching the Staples Center loading dock are greeted by barriers certified by the U.S. State Department to stop a 15,000-pound vehicle traveling at 50 mph, which secures the dock area so no one can crash through. The barriers remain up until a vehicle has passed inspection, at which point the barriers are lowered.

"We knew we are a high-profile facility, and we host high-profile events. So we decided we were going to be proactive and harden the soft target," Zeidman said. "That's been our philosophy since 9/11, because obviously we're never going to be able to stop everything that happens. But maybe if we make it a little tougher, they'll walk down the street because it is too tough to get in here."

Each staff member takes emergency response training, and emergency policies and procedures are updated annually. In addition, an informational session is held where officials from the bomb squad, the LAPD, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and Archangel (a counterterrorism partnership connected with the LAPD) speak to the facility's 12,000 part-time employees about emergency prevention and preparedness.

"We run an evacuation video prior to every event we hold here that drums in how to get out of the building in the event of an emergency," Zeidman said. "Granted, you can train, but in an emergency, you don't necessarily know how your staff is going to react."

Should an emergency occur, Staples Center management and staff are, as Zeidman said, the first responders.

"We've tried to train and prepare our staff through tabletop exercises with the LAPD, the Fire Department and the Department of Homeland Security on what they expect of the facility when they get here," Zeidman said. "We've gone so far as we've had the