Security officials press lawmakers for counter-UAS measures to better protect packed venues

The “proliferation of drones and modern warfare has exacerbated” the threat landscape “at full stadiums” and other packed venues across the country, Southeastern Conference Assistant Commissioner Jeremy Hammond told lawmakers Wednesday at a hearing of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology assessing vulnerabilities and coordination to secure mass-spectator events.

A key hurdle is that “the largest events that are hosted in this country on a consistent basis currently do not qualify for federal interagency support.”

“Campus environments are full of soft targets with tailgates and team walks surrounding the stadium,” Hammond told lawmakers. “A bad actor with the vehicle has become a hallmark of modern crowd attacks. Unfortunately, we saw that play out on Jan. 1 in New Orleans as fans prepared to enjoy the Sugar Bowl.”

The hearing looked ahead at key upcoming events at which millions of spectators may be at risk as they gather in a range of venues with varying vulnerabilities.

“In the years ahead, the United States will host several major international sporting events, including the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles,” Chairman Dale Strong (R-Ala.) said. “These events present enormous opportunities, delivering economic benefits while also showcasing our great nation on the international stage. But they also bring significant security challenges.”

The World Cup, Strong noted, is expected to bring 6.5 million soccer fans to the United States, with 78 matches played across 11 cities.

“Not to mention, it will also be played in the midst of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary,” he said. “To meet these unprecedented demands, DHS has convened an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure they are safe and secure.”

Orange County (Calif.) Sheriff-Coroner Donald Barnes emphasized the importance of training agencies on mobile field force tactics and response protocols at the local level, and ensuring that they’re sharing and receiving strong intelligence.

“There’s a huge drain on resources when you have a tactical element in reserve for a prolonged period of time, I think we agree,” Barnes told lawmakers. “And there’s other resources like bomb-detection canines and others that work in tandem with them that have a limited utility, that you have to replicate on a much larger platform.”

In his prepared statement to the committee, Barnes stressed that “continued and enhanced federal funding is essential to preparedness, providing support for strategic planning, and maintaining operational readiness.”

“Direct grant funding to local agencies — bypassing state-level intermediaries — would eliminate bureaucratic hurdles, reduce administrative overhead, and deliver resources more effectively to frontline departments where they matter most,” he said.

The sheriff noted that as drones will be “leveraged extensively” by public safety personnel to help secure World Cup and Olympic sites, “the unauthorized misuse of drones presents a significant security concern for mass events.”

“This was seen the past summer when concerts were paused due to drone activity,” Barnes said. “Current federal law limits the use of counter-UAS technologies, such as signal jamming, tracking and drone interdiction, to just four federal agencies. This legal gap is dangerous and must be addressed. Lawmakers must establish a legal framework that provides broad-based but carefully regulated authority for locals to deploy and operate counter-UAS systems. This framework must be supported by funding, training, oversight, and transparency.”

John Junell, chief security officer at Live Nation Entertainment, told lawmakers that “it’s essential that more events are covered by FAA-issued temporary flight restrictions, or TFRs, and counter-UAS authority be expanded to local law enforcement.”

“Drone use continues to grow rapidly,” he testified. “The FAA recently reported that more than one million drones are now registered in the U.S., a 160 percent increase since 2019. Given the rise in usage and high-profile, drone-related incidents, expanding TFR authority is needed.”

Junell noted in his prepared remarks to the committee that many of his company’s events take place in outdoor venues, which regularly attract 10,000 to nearly 30,000 attendees. “Last year alone, we had more than 1,000 shows in venues with a capacity of 10,000,” he said, asking lawmakers to consider lowering the current attendance thresholds — at least 30,000 attendees at stadium concerts and 100,000 people at festivals — to cover more events with drone-related temporary flight restrictions. 

“While these shows fall below the current threshold, they still present significant and similar security challenges due to their open-air design and dense crowds,” he continued. “Similarly, Live Nation produces festivals across the country that draw upwards of 85,000 festival-goers, require more than 10,000 credentialed workers, as well as artists and their teams — yet are not considered to meet the 100,000-person threshold. Given their scale, visibility and logistical complexity, they too warrant TFR protection. Expanding eligibility to include these types of events is a necessary reality to keep pace with the technologically advanced risks at large-scale events associated with aircraft activity.”

Barnes noted that the law enforcement resources are not only needed to protect massive event venues but also commercial-sector facilities that will house and feed the surge of attendees.

“Local agencies alone cannot shoulder the burden for additional personnel, equipment, technology and supplies required to protect thousands of athletes and foreign dignitaries, and secure Olympic housing and competition facilities across hundreds of square miles,” Barnes said. “Federal grant funding to help offset these costs – which has been provided during previous Olympic Games hosted in the United States – will help us maintain operations associated with these events while also fulfilling our day-to-day law enforcement responsibilities in our communities.”

“We want to make sure that we are as prepared as can be,” Junell told lawmakers, including training and “facilitating all the intelligence sharing and everything else through our federal, state and local law enforcement partners… so that we have that robust resilience around the event, regardless of the size.”

Hammond said he is “encouraged by the efforts of both the Senate and the House to introduce legislation that would allow federal agencies to deputize local officials with the authority to mitigate drone threats with the proper training and the access to the advanced technology and, finally, access to intelligence, staffing, equipment and funding resources that modernize public safety posture at our events.”