Behind the scenes on Georgia Game Day

By Greg Trevor/UGA Today

Nearly two hours before sunrise on a Saturday in October, four UGA Police commanders painstakingly install the first of several hydraulic traffic barricades around Sanford Stadium — a task they perform every game day.

“This shows the standard that we expect from all of our officers,” Deputy Chief Derrick Gregory said.

Two miles away, UGA bus drivers begin the first transit runs that will carry thousands of football fans to and from the stadium throughout the day.

Amy Davenport, a driver for the past four years for Transportation and Parking Services, said UGA’s students are the best part of the job. “The students are so appreciative, so grateful.”

Davenport and Gregory are two of game day’s unsung heroes — hundreds of men and women, uniformed personnel and civilians working for UGA and the university’s partners around the region. They protect Sanford Stadium’s more than 93,000 fans, as well as thousands of game day visitors, while maintaining operations across campus.

No matter the game time, they are on the job hours before the opening kick and hours after the final whistle.

“We are proud of everyone’s hard work to make game day a safe and special experience for our fans and all members of our campus community,” said Jimmy Williamson, the university’s retired chief of police who now serves as special projects advisor in the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration. Williamson and Adam Fouche, the university’s interim associate vice president for environmental safety, risk, and resiliency, jointly oversee game day operations.

Over the decades, UGA’s game day security efforts have become increasingly sophisticated, Williamson said. These efforts include traveling to major sporting events as well as meeting with national and international security experts.

“Compared to our peers, we feel that we’re in the top 10% in terms of security,” Williamson added.

Year-round preparations

Williamson and Fouche meet throughout the year with representatives of Athletics and Auxiliary Services who manage transportation and parking, dining and other related university resources.

Individual units across UGA including police and the Office of Emergency Preparedness also meet regularly with their counterparts outside the university.

“Planning for the football season goes on year-round,” Fouche said. “We’re already planning for next season now.”

Their preparation includes coordinating with UGA Athletics operations, the National Weather Service and local fire and medical first responders before each home game and fine-tuning the university’s comprehensive plans and procedures to address every game day situation, both anticipated and unanticipated.

This “all hazards” approach is a unified strategy that maximizes an organization’s flexibility to respond to any potential situation.

“What our fans see is police and civilians working collaboratively and professionally on their behalf — no matter what might occur,” Williamson said.

This season, Bulldogs fans have already witnessed the wisdom of this approach.

Over the summer, Fouche said, they placed special emphasis on training staff to be ready to respond to severe weather during a game.

When a lightning storm led to a delay of about two hours during Georgia’s Sept. 6 game against Austin Peay, that training was put into practice.In addition to maintaining continuous contact with the teams and the officiating crew during the storm, security successfully carried out the stadium evacuation plan. 

“Everybody knew what was expected of them,” Fouche said. “We really had that dialed in.”

K-9 Kira on game day duty

Back at Sanford on an October game day, 8-year-old Belgian Malinois K-9 Kira enthusiastically performed a security sweep with her partner, UGA Police Sgt. Nolan Johnson.

Kira has patrolled Sanford Stadium every game day for six seasons.

“All Kira wants to do is work,” Johnson said. “She loves people, and she loves her job.”

Inside the command box

Less than an hour before kickoff, Williamson, UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark and John Heinen — a retired Georgia Bureau of Investigation inspector who recently became UGA’s director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness — sit together in the stadium command box, leading an operations and security team that simultaneously reviews more than 50 screens showing:

• Live feeds from hundreds of camera views covering the stadium and the surrounding area

• Traffic reports

• Weather updates

• The game feed

They watch on screen as tens of thousands of fans walk into Sanford without incident.

“From a security standpoint, we’re always happy when game day is uneventful,” Clark said.

Campus support

Each football Saturday, more than 100 uniformed personnel from 14 outside agencies — ranging from law enforcement officers to fire and medical first responders — support the university’s game day efforts.

Dozens more employees from the university’s Facilities Management and Auxiliary Services divisions perform custodial, maintenance and other services throughout the day. Dining Services staff provide more than 200 meals to uniformed first responders and civilians from inside and outside the university who work game day.

“It’s a privilege to fuel the fans and support staff,” said Chris Render, retail food sales manager with Dining Services.

Each game day, about two dozen of Facilities Management’s operations and maintenance staff arrive at Sanford five hours before kickoff to provide services throughout the game.

The support services team assists UGA Police with the Dawg Walk, and approximately 20 building services employees staff the Tate Center and Miller Learning Center.

Grounds Department staff fill security barricades with water. Crews come in Sunday mornings to remove trash and repair turf.

The end of another long day

On this particular Saturday — Oct. 4 against Kentucky — the workday of Deputy Chief Gregory and his fellow police ends 14 hours after it began, when they finish returning the hydraulic barricades to storage.

Gregory considers this a short day. When there’s a nighttime kickoff, such as the Sept. 27 game against Alabama, Gregory’s workday can last more than 23 hours.

“You always feel relieved when you make it through the day successfully,” he said.