Event Security: What is Required for Concerts?

Public events draw crowds that create security needs. Festivals, sporting events, and concerts fall into this category, as do other kinds of events. These days, security disasters have motivated the creation of stricter legal standards that event organizers and venue owners must comply with.

High-Profile Concert Disasters Caused by Inadequate Security

Below are just a few examples of high-profile concert disasters caused by inadequate security:

• The Altamont Free Concert (1969): The Hells Angels, hired for security, were blamed for one death and numerous other assaults. 
• The Who Concert (1979): Eleven people were trampled to death at their concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, due to a crowd surge when the doors opened.
• Roskilde Festival (2000): Nine people died during a crowd crush during a Pearl Jam performance.
• The Route 91 Harvest Music Festival (2017): A gunman killed 60 people and injured hundreds more at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• Astroworld Festival (2021): This crowd surge tragedy occurred at a Travis Scott concert in Houston. It resulted in 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The foregoing is only a partial list of concert tragedies that have occurred over the last 50 years.

Inadequate Security Claims

“Inadequate security” is a cause of action in personal injury law. If you can prove the following elements, you could qualify for a great deal of compensation. These elements are the same elements that you would have to prove to win any negligence claim:

1. Duty of care: You must prove that the defendant owed the injured party a duty of care. If the defendant is the venue owner, premises liability law provides this duty of care.
2. Breach of duty: You must prove that the defendant breached their duty of care. Such a breach might consist of inadequate lighting, an insufficient number of security guards, or any number of other factors. Once you have established a breach of duty, you have established negligence, but not necessarily liability.
3. Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty must have caused the accident or incident in question. Imagine a trampling tragedy caused by security’s failure to open enough doors to the venue, for example. 
4. Damages: The plaintiff must have suffered a loss that the law can compensate for 

You must prove all four of the foregoing elements to win a negligence claim based on inadequate security.

Proper Preparation

To properly manage the security needs of a large concert, the venue owner or concert organizer should take the following measures:

1. Create a detailed security plan. It should cover risk assessment, the number and deployment of security personnel, emergency procedures, evacuation routes, and coordination with local law enforcement.
2. Hire a licensed and insured private security company. This company needs a proven track record of handling security at the type of concert you are preparing for.
3. Dispatch a sufficient number of private security officers to the event. The general industry guideline is one security officer for every 100 concertgoers. Feel free to increase this number based on venue layout, type of concert, and the “rowdiness factor.”
4. Dispatch sufficient police officers at the event: This step is particularly important because police officers are generally well-trained and have more authority than private security officers.
5. Effectively employ technology. This should include technology such as metal detectors, X-ray machines, and surveillance systems.
6. Ensure clear communication. Clear communication among security personnel, event staff, and local law enforcement is critical so that everyone works together as a team.

Effectively instituting these measures will drastically reduce the likelihood of security problems at the concert.

Contact Our Personal Injury Attorneys in Portland at Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers

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