Milton Ahlerich and NFL Security: Goal-Line Stand

Anything can happen at a football game. But Milton Ahlerich, the NFL's VP of security, has sworn to make it safe for players and fans alike.

Ahlerich stays on top of what's happening at the individual stadiums mainly through his network of security contractors. But nothing beats an onsite visit to gauge the effectiveness of a security program. Ahlerich goes to the games and often sends his staff as wellideally when stadiums are packed to capacity. "I go to one gameand sometimes twoalmost every week," he says. And although that might sound like the greatest security gig around, he's not hanging out in a skybox eating appetizers and watching the game. "We get there very early, and we stay very late," Ahlerich says. "We don't see a lot of football, but we see a lot of gates, command posts, parking lots, perimeters, camera setups and gate screenings. We visit with a lot of security chiefs and get a lot of good feedback that way."

The best practices have translated into many changes in stadium securitythe most obvious at the screening gates where patrons are patted down and, at some sites, are sent through a magnetometer. Ahlerich was braced for complaints from fans, but he has been surprised by their thoughtful reaction to the security. Fans have insisted only on two things: that the stadium follow through on security rhetoric and really do a good job, and that the screening process also apply to the patrons heading to the luxury suites.

That democratization of security screening has even carried over to the players, whose bags are tagged and screened as they enter the stadium. And players on chartered aircraft are now checked before they board, and all accessible luggage goes through a magnetometer. "They've accepted it," says Ahlerich. "They take their shoes and their jewelry off."

At the very top of the hierarchy of threats to stadium security is anything that could cause catastrophic damagea structural collapse or an explosion. Running a close second to that are concerns over biological agents and the security of the HVAC systems. Many of the new security practices are designed to address those two critical concerns.

In addition, since 2001, anonymous bomb threats have become typicalAhlerich notes that having one or two such threats a weekend is not uncommon. The league encourages each stadium to develop a close relationship with law enforcement, which is critical during a bomb threat. The league also recommends that all stadiums be screened prior to a gamean unpleasant task at sites like Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the Buffalo Bills, where the security staff has to brave arctic temperatures on late-December days for three to four hours in order to check under every seat for suspicious materials.