When it’s kickoff time in June 2026 for the FIFA World Cup — the world’s largest sporting event — Deputy Chief Charles Hampton will be the key player on Atlanta’s public safety team. And he appears confident.
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“We are in a great position to welcome the world to our city,” says the 30-year law enforcement veteran who chairs the Atlanta Police Department’s special events division, established to prepare for the World Cup and other high-stakes events.
The global men’s soccer tournament will span more than 5 weeks and spread across 16 cities in three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico. Atlanta will host eight World Cup games — second only to Dallas — including one of the semifinal matches.
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Strengthening large-event resilience
The new year will bring other large-scale events to the U.S., such as Super Bowl 60 and the 250th anniversary of American independence. With those events come unprecedented operational demands and challenges for public safety and security.
Most larger U.S. cities are no strangers to hosting major sporting events, from Super Bowls, to MLB All-Star games, to College Football Playoff National Championships. And in Atlanta’s hosting history, the FIFA World Cup coincides with the 30th anniversary of the 1996 Olympics.
Yet Hampton, who also leads APD’s strategic response team and its drone unit, warns against relying too much on the past. “Complacency is dangerous,” he says. The World Cup brings unique challenges with an influx of international visitors and large, passionate crowds. Also, the technology landscape and safety protocols are constantly evolving.
“The FIFA World Cup; that’s like eight Super Bowls in five weeks,” says Joe Coomer, vice president of security at AMB Sports and Entertainment, which operates Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United FC — and the venue for Atlanta’s World Cup games.
Securing the tournament requires a team effort by local, state and federal public safety agencies as well as private sector security. FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, sets overall security guidelines and provides critical intelligence.
Coomer has a team of 500 front-line security staff and 300 additional police officers at the stadium on game days. During World Cup matches, he expects these numbers to double.
State-of-the-art tech tools support security operations. Since its opening in 2017, Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been “a test lab for guest innovation,” says Coomer.“And that also relates to security.”
The stadium was among the first to introduce frictionless security screening, which can distinguish between different metallic objects and allows for a more seamless screening process. Coomer’s department was also an early adopter of drone detection technology. A robotic dog patrols the stadium.
Large-scale event security planning is a well-orchestrated effort that involves thorough risk assessment, a comprehensive protection and preparedness plan, and a scalable incident response plan. Essential measures and tools include remote video monitoring, access control and technology and data integration. Emergency response protocols must incorporate threats including:
- Fire
- Medical emergencies
- Natural disasters
- Physical attacks
- Cybersecurity attacks
Finally, clear communication channels and effective crowd management strategies are essential.
Yet, there are potential failure points — critical safety and security systems that are prone to collapse during large-scale events.
Avoiding critical failure points
Here are six vulnerable areas and how to secure them.
1. Communication networks
During large-scale events, fast and seamless communications across jurisdictions can make the difference between an effective response and operational failure, says Paul Eckloff, a former special agent with the U.S. Secret Service, and a public safety and security expert at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a global data analytics company.
“A strong communication infrastructure is key to emergency preparedness,” he says.
Factors leading to communication delays and breakdowns include incompatible radio systems, poor inter-agency collaboration or simply traffic overload. During large-scale events or major emergencies, traditional radio networks can become overwhelmed.
Municipal police departments are used to communicating and operating across jurisdictions, but when federal agencies are involved, communications tend to be more fragmented.
In July 2024, communication failures, including radio equipment malfunctions and the lack of shared frequencies between the Secret Service and local police, contributed to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Redundancy and repetition” help strengthen communication resilience, says Eckloff.
Many public safety departments are opting for hybrid solutions, integrating traditional land-based mobile systems (LBMSs) with LTE and other scalable broadband solutions, providing seamless communication with built-in backup systems for peak network usage.
It’s also critical to establish standardized protocols for multi-agency responses and practice communication interoperability during cross-agency drills, says Eckloff.
2. Drone detection
Drones are ubiquitous in the public safety world, where they are used during special operations for real-time aerial surveillance to monitor crowds, clear buildings, identify threats and improve emergency response. Private security also deploys drones, mainly for site surveillance and venue protection.
Conversely, criminal actors can use drones to cause disruptions, smuggle contraband or carry out a targeted attack. Drones can increasingly haul larger payloads, allowing for the transportation of a chemical bomb or an explosive into crowded spaces.
Recent incidents involving rogue drones have only been disruptive. Earlier this year, unauthorized drones halted several NFL games. Last year, a drone briefly interrupted a Green Day concert, sending the band rushing off the stage.
Meanwhile, detection systems designed to identify rogue drones are getting more sophisticated with the aid of radar, acoustic sensors, radio frequency, thermal imaging and advanced AI integration.
“Today, most jurisdictions in the United States have the capabilities to detect a drone,” says Eckloff.
But the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) currently prohibits local law enforcement and private security from stopping a drone in flight. The authority to jam or take down rogue drones lies with federal entities, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, with a small number of exceptions.
3. Gear readiness and officer training
Equipment failure and gaps in human performance can jeopardize public safety and security operations, affecting cross-jurisdiction communication, technology integration and collaboration.
For the World Cup, law enforcement agencies in host cities will solicit support from other departments, ranging from officers to equipment.Atlanta Police, for example, plans to bring in an additional 250 officers from around the state of Georgia.
The condition of public safety gear often varies depending on a department’s culture of readiness, drill frequency and call volume, says William Smith, director of emergency management at the Georgia Institute of Technology and an expert in disaster management.
Smaller police departments, in particular, often “receive grants, buy things like mobile command vehicles, and then they rarely deploy them,” he says. “The equipment becomes obsolete, it breaks, it gets outdated.”
He says gear that’s frequently being used — like helmets, batons or shields — is typically reliable, even though it might look rough on the outside. “The equipment that’s shiny but 10 years old is what you may not want to count on.”
The level of officer readiness also varies by department, says Smith. Take the SWAT team, a bomb squad or a K-9 unit. “How often do they train? How often do they get called out?” he asks.
Whenever an agency taps into another’s inventory, Smith recommends thoroughly inspecting equipment, as well as evaluating the level and standards of officer training.
With about 8 months to go until the World Cup, Atlanta Deputy Chief Hampton says this is the time to heavily test radio networks and the citywide camera system, and to identify and correct any dead zones, blind spots and coverage gaps.
It’s also the time to add new approaches and make any necessary adjustments. Last year, Hampton visited Germany and the UK — two countries with police forces experienced in dealing with large crowds of passionate soccer fans, which sometimes escalates to violence.
“One thing I found interesting is how they use mounted patrol” for crowd management, says Hampton. When he returned, he implemented some of the overseas methods in APD’s mounted unit training. “And then we noticed that the sounds, the smoke and the banners spooked our horses.” The department ramped up horse training to include specific scenarios and drills in preparation for the World Cup.
4. Unified command
As for every large-scale event, establishing a unified command will be essential going into 2026. With a standardized approach to incident response and a clear line of authority, this multi-agency, multi-organization management structure coordinates joint operations to ensure security and safety.
The unified command is based at a centralized location — often the lead agency’s real-time crime center. It integrates multiple feeds, like video surveillance, radio communications and operational data. Command consists of leaders from local police, fire and emergency; state and federal law enforcement officials; representatives from private organizations, such as FIFA; and venue security.
The biggest hurdle to a unified command is the decentralized, often fragmented nature of U.S. law enforcement, says Bob Harrison, a senior researcher at the RAND Corporation and a former police chief in California.
“By and large, policing in America is local,” he says. “One of the dangers is that police tend to stovepipe what they know. They don’t share well and, sometimes, they don’t receive well either.”
Experts agree the best way to overcome operational silos is through frequent, comprehensive, sometimes redundant communication. Joint briefings and training are part of the readiness routine, says Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s Coomer.
Training ranges from tabletop exercises to equipment drills to large, interactive simulations involving multiple public safety agencies, corporate security and role players. Scenarios include medical and weather emergencies, construction accidents, utility outages, political protests, active shooter events, bomb threats and cyber-attacks.
5. Public messaging
Imagine 80,000 soccer fans packed in a stadium, blood boiling and outside temperatures rising. It’s the perfect breeding ground for the rumor mill to start spinning. “What tends to panic people most is lack of information,” says RAND researcher Harrison.
A robust public messaging strategy is critical during large-scale events. It involves developing succinct and coordinated messages and delivering them across multiple, resilient platforms, he adds.
Clear signage in multiple languages is critical, as are mass notification tools and digital displays for real-time updates. Security personnel must be trained in the fundamentals of crowd psychology and how to recognize suspicious behavioral patterns.
For an event like the World Cup, public safety agencies are dealing with domestic and transient populations, each requiring different messaging, says Georgia Tech’s Smith, adding, “for foreign visitors, it may be as basic as, ‘If you have an emergency, dial 911.’”
He says every jurisdiction, whether it’s a college campus or a city, has different warning mechanisms, cultures and populations. In an incident, it’s helpful to utilize these differences, tweaking the language and delivery of the emergency message to reach different audiences at their point of need. The message can be hyper-local or include more direction and explanation. “But the core content of the warning has to be coordinated, consistent and in sync,” Smith says.
6. Cyber-infrastructure
Most major public safety and security operations are built on a digital infrastructure that touches all critical systems needed for large-scale emergency planning.That’s why it’s also one of the most attractive targets for bad actors.
Phishing attempts, malware and denial-of-service attacks can disrupt public safety communications, the financial services sector and large utilities. They can directly target event venues, impact access control systems and effectively shut down stadium operations — and whip an already hyped-up crowd into a potentially dangerous frenzy.
“Nothing screams public disorder more than having the lights go out at a stadium during a night game,” says Harrison.
Strong public-private partnerships are essential to a comprehensive and constantly updated cybersecurity plan, adds Eckloff. Many cyber-attacks have a financial angle, and private security, including FIFA and large corporations, as well as federal safety and security agencies, are better equipped to gather intelligence across city, state and country borders than municipal police departments, Eckloff says.
Building coordinated readiness
As public safety and private security professionals enter the final phase of preparations for large-scale events in 2026 and work their way through checklists of possible threats, potential failure points and projected vulnerabilities, Smith warns not to forget about infrastructure breakdowns that can happen anytime — without a malicious actor or a natural disaster.
Take, for example, a major water failure. “It can greatly affect hospitals, prisons, hotels, campuses and many areas of the city any day of the week,” he says. “But if you happen to host the World Cup at that time, you have a compounded problem.”
And sometimes, it’s the seemingly mundane details, the local characteristics and challenges that require attention.
Hampton says, for example, that in Atlanta, he’s concerned about the oppressive heat in July, which can reach temperatures of over 90 degrees in his city.
While the stadium can be closed, Hampton says fans will be marching through Atlanta for hours, and officers will be standing outside in the elements for long periods of time. It’s a situation that could turn into a mass medical emergency, potentially impacting the safety and security of the entire event.
Atlanta police are currently working with public health officials to explore options like misting stations and hydration areas.
Hampton’s message to his colleagues across the U.S. is clear. “The eyes of the world will be on us. Don’t get complacent. Keep running through different scenarios. And make sure you don’t overlook something.”
