We’ve been blogging a lot lately about the strategies and equipment necessary for improving crowd control within stadiums.
Recently, we’ve looked into the EURO 2012 Soccer Championships, the scientific theories behind crowd control, and lessons from Ancient Rome and the Pompeii Ampitheatre. Now we’re turning our attention to the upcoming London Olympics.
In mid June, NBC reported that officials in London had grossly underestimated the number of people likely to come to the city for the games, and as a result, they were forced to up their budget.
According to Olympics minister Hugh Robertson, Britain has decided to add an additional 19 million pounds ($29 million) to their crowd control budget, bringing the total to about 76 million pounds ($117 million). According to Robertson, the money will be used for more ushers, crowd barriers, and pedestrian bridges.
For an event of this magnitude, neither outdoor crowd control equipment, nor riot police standing on their own will be enough. The two must work in tandem, and government officials in London, along with representatives from the International Olympics committee, are aware of this fact and acting accordingly. This is refreshing to see, and we can only hope that other stadium and event representatives will take the same stance and act proactively to decrease the chances of disorder and chaos when large groups are gathered at their own facilities.