Security plans in place for first Mizzou football home game

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

With the start of the college football season, tens of thousands of fans will make their way into Memorial Stadium to see the Mizzou Tigers on Thursday night. 

While fans are focused on the action on Farout Field, security planning has been in the works for months.  It began almost as soon as last season ended.

Sgt. Shawn Brazas with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said security planning includes coordinating all police and first responders around the area of Memorial Stadium. “We have about 70 troopers, and that doesn’t include MUPD (University of Missouri Police Department and CPD (Columbia Police Department).  But when you compare to the amount of people coming in, the attendance, we are outmanned,” Brazas said. 

In a stadium that has a maximum capacity of more than 62,000, there are bound to be some people who have a meeting with law enforcement for different reasons.

Fans will begin to see those troopers before they ever get close to campus.

“Every direction it goes out several intersections. I can tell you here on Stadium (Boulevard) it goes out past College (Avenue), past Ashland (Road)," Brazas said. 

Plans are also in place for fans of the visiting team, Louisiana Tech. Officers post up at every intersection between the team hotel and the stadium for traffic control.

A new security feature this year is the addition of QR codes in the stadium. Fans can scan the QR code and report something straight to the security and law enforcement teams. But fans can also call 911 or speak with a law enforcement officer inside the stadium.