With so many weekend events, find out how Philly police are meeting the security challenge
Philly police step up security preps ahead of big events
This weekend tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the Roots Picnic Music Festival and Philly Pride Month festivities, and Philadelphia police are planning a large security presence to match.
CENTER CITY - Security in Philadelphia is going to be high throughout the weekend due to all the events happening, with the Roots Picnic Music Festival and Philly Pride Month festivities and falling just days after a mass shooting in Fairmount Park.
Heightened security:
This weekend, tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the Roots Picnic Music Festival and Philly Pride Month festivities, and Philadelphia police are planning a large security presence to match.
In fact, Chief Inspector John Przepiorka, the Commanding Officer of the PPD Tactical Support Bureau, said in light of the mass shooting on Memorial Day there will be stepped-up deployment in the Philadelphia Park System.
"That will consist of uniformed officers, as well as plain-clothes officers, riding through the parks, checking on the crowd capacity, what the size is – what’s going on in the park – is it just kids at play or is there anything nefarious in the works – that kind of thing," said Chief Inspector Przepiorka. "We’re going to keep a better eye on the parks throughout the area and again to make sure that people that can go there, can enjoy the park and have a great time, but also to prevent anything from occurring in the future."
Summer festivities continue at Fairmount Park despite recent deadly mass shooting
Days after a deadly mass shooting during a Memorial Day party at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia residents are returning to the park to enjoy summer festivities including Parks on Tap.
Planning:
Przepiorka said security planning for events starts weeks in advance, and sometimes months and even years, depending on the nature of the event.
The department goes over deployment strategies for officers, state and federal partners and special operations units.
"Sweeps in the morning with our K9 unit looking for anything that may be suspicious. We will then also have our uniformed officers present at the venue site itself, which could also incorporate officers on bicycles to have more roaming capabilities of being in the area, being visible and present," said Przepiorka.
Big picture view:
In addition to deployment strategies, police also collaborate with partners at the Intelligence Bureau on the local, state and federal level to look for any information to help police identify an issue before it happens.
"Easy for things to get raucous and out of control, but I think we do a great job of striking that balance to make people feel safe and still able to have as much fun as possible," said Aaron Corpora of South Philly. "I’ve been to some Pride events and Roots last year as well, and my girlfriend will be here this weekend. She’s looking forward to it. She loves the Roots event, so she’ll be out there this weekend without a doubt."