SAN FRANCISCO – Jeffrey Miller, the NFL Director of Strategic Security spoke in the press box at Candlestick during halftime Saturday evening.
He spoke about how the 49ers are improving their security at the Stick. Here are selected quotes from that interview.
Q: What did you observe today and what message are you bringing with you?
JEFFREY MILLER: Tonight, what I saw in the parking areas was the police were extremely engaged. They did a fantastic job in working with the fans. Trash removal, little things like that on the order/maintenance side I think were done extremely well. Granted, there’s not maybe as many people here, it’s not exactly the same demographic as last week, but I think the plan that they’ve demonstrated and what they’re doing and the commitment they’ve shown to it is exemplary and I think it will carry over throughout the entire season and will create a safe environment for the fans here in Candlestick park.
Q: Talk about trash removal.
JEFFREY MILLER: Well, it’s like, if you’re familiar with the ‘broken windows’ theory, if you let the little things go, the big things are going to come down on you like a ton of bricks. If you take care of those little things on the order/maintenance side, and it’s things like trash receptacles, ash containers in the appropriate place, flaggers, cones, everything taken care of, the little things, then people get a sense of this is an organized environment and it’s not something that I’m going to trash myself or I’m going to get involved with something I shouldn’t be doing. And I think the police have done a real nice job, the stadium folks have done a real nice job, all over it tonight. It really looks good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the exterior of Candlestick Park look this clean. Really nice job.
Q: How has the police coverage improved?
JEFFREY MILLER: We’ve seen great gains because the police have been so focused on interacting with the fans from the earliest possible time. I think it’s critical that you engage the fans early, and that you’re out there in uniform form from the time they start to pull in to the time they start to set up, because that allows you to kind of control the environment a bit and have that sense of order present. People know that the police are here and we’re going to have a great time but there is a sense of control in place. And I think if you don’t have that established early, you run the risk of having more intoxicated people come to your game, having more people get through the gates be your problems early, and those problems will overcome your ability to respond with the resources that you have. If you’re proactive on the front end, then you can be more proactive on the back end, because now you have free resources for you to deploy.
Q: Are preseason games more troubling that regular season games?
JEFFREY MILLER: Well, let me just say that preseason games across the league not only don’t have the same fan base that attends the games throughout the regular season, that I will say. Now, whether that’s problematic or not depends on the venue. I really think a lot of the people who were here last weekend were not the true 49ers fans, weren’t the true Raiders fans, they were people who chose that evening event as their own crime scene, this location as their crime scene. They came here with the intent on maybe drinking a lot, maybe getting involved with things that they shouldn’t have.
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