Syracuse University’s recently implemented clear-bag policy at the Carrier Dome is an effective safety measure, crowd management experts said.

The policy, announced in August, requires that bags brought into the Dome be see-through, plastic and under a certain size. It went into effect during the first SU home football game last Saturday.

Bags brought into the stadium can be no larger than 12-by-6-by-12 inches. Attendees can also bring a one-gallon clear plastic freezer bag, a hand-sized bag for personal items, a diaper bag or a bag for medically-necessary items.

Gil Fried, an expert on stadium safety and risk management, said clear-bag policies aren’t new to college stadiums. Fried, a sports management professor at the University of New Haven, said many of these policies are modeled after the NFL’s stadium bag policy, a practice certified by the Department of Homeland Security as an effective anti-terrorism technology.

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“It’s efficient and effective for people evaluating what’s inside the bag,” Fried said. “It’s a solid measure.”

Currently, 13 out of 15 schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference have implemented a clear-bag policy. Duke University has a no-bag policy, while Boston College still permits bags for search.

Having a clear bag would force attendants to check and make sure they’re not bringing prohibited items inside a stadium, Fried said. He added that it also protects the safety personnel searching the bags from potential accusations of stealing and from touching something that might be dangerous.

“It’s also the right countermeasure to speed up processes in an industry that becomes more and more complicated and tedious in its safety policies,” said Marcel Altenburg, senior lecturer of crowd safety and risk analysis at Manchester Metropolitan University, in an email.

Altenburg, who has been consulted about stadium queues by professional sports leagues, said a safety process that only takes two to five seconds per person can save a lot of time in big events or stadiums, such as the 49,250-seat Dome.

He also said that setting size limits for the clear bags could prevent attendees from carrying bags that are too big to fit underneath seats, lessening the risk of blockage to aisles and emergency routes.

Approved bags will be sold for $3 across campus, including at the university’s bookstore and on the Quad on game days. All season ticket holders will get a clear bag per two tickets, per an SU News release.

David Sa, president of Otto’s Army, said in a Facebook message that the organization is considering giving out clear fanny packs. But he said fans might not like the clear-bag policy.

“I feel like the initial reaction is that they’re restricting what goes in the Dome, and typically, people don’t like change,” he said.

Sa added that the new policy might cause problems if students are coming from class and have their backpacks with them but can’t bring them inside.

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Attendees may get upset because of privacy concerns, Fried said, if they are carrying personal items they don’t want other people to see out in the open.

“But the risk of major catastrophe is so large that it outweighs privacy concerns,” he said.

Altenburg said he hasn’t seen any evidence that the clear-bag policy could affect game attendance. He said, if communicated correctly, a clear-bag policy may encourage people to attend a game because security checks will be faster and venues will be safer.

He also named other technological solutions that can increase safety and processing speed, such as using magnetometers and radio wave screening to detect weapons.

There will be walkthrough metal detectors at all entry gates at the Dome. During this screening process, attendants will also be asked to remove all metal objects from their body, per the release.

Published on September 12, 2018 at 9:48 pm

Contact Micah: mjcastel@syr.edu