Game day security involves many agencies

For Auburn fans, a good game day might be one in which the team wins. For Auburn police and other agencies who work football security, it’s one in which everyone gets home safely.

“We take personal responsibility for (fans’) safety while they’re here,” Auburn police Capt. Tom Stofer said.

Approximately 16 agencies work together each weekend to make sure thousands of fans inside and outside Jordan-Hare Stadium are safe.

The Friday before a home game, the stadium is locked down, and canine units sweep the rows for dangers like explosives, Stofer said.

From the point the stadium is locked down, there are security personnel inside until the game starts the next day.

Organizing the various agencies takes coordination of communication and command, Stofer said.

Officers come from agencies across the area to work the games.

“The support we get from other agencies is tremendous,” Stofer said. “We could never go it alone.”

There’s more to securing football games than meets the eye, he said. Along with uniformed officers, a number of plainclothes police officers keep an eye on things.

Also, there’s a small jail under the stadium. Anyone who’s arrested gets put in a holding cell, then transported to the Lee County Detention Center.

But security isn’t there to stifle the fun, just to make sure things don’t get out of hand, Stofer said. People would also be surprised how few problems they actually have on game days, he said.

“This is my 17th football season, and I can tell you from personal experience, we have some of the best fans anywhere in the nation,” Stofer said. “Because of that, we make very few arrests. We have close to 90,000 fans in the stadium, and if we have a handful of incidents, that’s pretty good.”