The man in the suit standing by the gate at Rutgers football games may not be just another patron - he may be an FBI agent sent to watch over the fans.
With Rutgers football currently regarded as a major sports phenomenon in New Jersey and the tri-state area, fans have consistently filled Rutgers Stadium on Busch campus in record numbers. To meet the demands of crowd control and to provide additional security, the University has contracted with multiple outside police forces, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
There are now as many as 15 different national, state and local police agencies involved with the University that send armed officers to police the tens of thousands of fans at each game.
Traditionally, games were handled by the Rutgers University Police Department and were aided by local police officers from Piscataway and New Brunswick. But now, with a packed house at every home game, the stadium has been vaulted into what is known as a "tier one facility," making it conceivable as a possible target for terrorists, said Capt. Edmund Johnson of the RUPD.
The Department of Homeland Security has four separate levels of danger regarding facilities based upon the likelihood of a terrorist threat. Rutgers Stadium is the second-largest stadium in the state after Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands, making it a potential target.
"Our canine officers establish check points," Johnson said, adding that police also perform bomb sweeps using intelligence they receive from the state police department about potential problems and threats.
With upward of 43,000 people in attendance at most home games, police maintain security inside the stadium, parking lots, buses and areas in and around the stadium property. They also direct traffic. To do so, Johnson said the police establish separate interior and exterior command posts.
"The most important thing is to keep each command post alert to any altercation," Johnson said, adding that each command post has its own radio channel that can consolidate security forces if any situation arises.
These security forces range from student Campus Security Officers and RUPD officers to police from adjacent districts and campuses, and all the way to the federal agents. The detailed list of jobs for each respective agency is distributed via a 15-page Operations Plan given out for every game.
"The FBI and state Homeland Security officers who attend each game have specialized training," said RUPD Chief Rhonda Harris, an exterior coordinator for football games. "[Their training is] beneficial to have on site at the game in certain situations instead of waiting for the arrival of a call out team."
RUPD uses 50 officers drawn from each of the campuses around the state, Johnson said, and an additional 80 officers from other areas that include Highland Park, Middlesex County, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The officers are supplemented by about 40 campus security officers and an additional 15 to 20 security personnel.
The shift in security policy follows an increase in attendance at the football games over the past few years. Since 2001, the average attendance has roughly doubled from 20,455 people to 41,113 in 2006.
And the University is not alone.
Pennsylvania State University Police Department Assistant Chief, Tyrone Parham, the director of security operations at the college's football games, said extensive security is provided there as well for the stadium filled with over 100,000 people for every home game.
Due to the increase in numbers across every wave of the spectrum, Penn State's security forces employ certain procedures that could assist Rutgers' own security detail.
"The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are two of the agencies involved," Parham said.
He added that undercover security measures are also employed at Penn State games due to the monumental amount of fans.
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