The recent disturbance at the Washington Hilton, during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, likely made you wonder, "how in the heck did that happen?"
You’re not alone. In addition to flooding our airwaves with a renewed concern about event safety, it raises a lot of questions for event professionals about working with different law enforcement agencies and ensuring that kind of collaboration keeps their events out of the news.
I’m not going to speculate about what happened at the Washington Hilton that night. Based on my career in law enforcement and event planning, if there’s one thing I preach it’s that speculation is not the best way to get facts, positive results or general calm. But I would like to point out that it isn’t just the President of the United States who requires extra protection and precautions. Seemingly, shining the spotlight on anyone onstage who might be considered controversial by anyone else in the room can put them at risk.
In 2022, you’ll recall that author Salman Rushdie was stabbed onstage at an event multiple times by a single assailant.
The following year, at the American College of Gynecology national meeting, an attendee from the audience approached the podium where the speaker was presenting. The attendee, a spouse of a colleague of the speaker, grabbed the speaker by the collar, turned to the audience, and said: “This [expletive] sexually assaulted my wife seven years ago.” He then slapped the speaker across the face.
Working with government law enforcement
Clearly, it’s going to be easier to anticipate some disturbances over others, and government-related events in Washington, D.C. are going to get a different level of attention. Based on my experience, I’d take an educated guess that the actual event security protocol went as planned to avert catastrophe: The hotel, the event planner and first responders all likely worked hand-in-hand to develop on-site logistics and safety policy.
The most unique aspect of D.C. meetings is that the area has some three-dozen different law enforcement bodies, including the FBI, DEA, and ATF. Depending on where your event occurs in the district, you might also find yourself working with the following:
- U.S. Park Police, which is responsible for national parks, monuments and the National Mall
- U.S Capitol Police, which protects Congress and the Capitol complex
- Federal Protective Service, which protects federal buildings and property
- U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division, which protects the White House complex, treasury and foreign missions
- Supreme Court of the United States Police Department, which protects the Supreme Court building, justices, employees and visitors
Collaborating on safety logistics
I have worked on events where high-profile government officials attended, and I always found working with federal officers to be hassle-free and easy. Most of the time, they merely want to be aware of your agenda, scheduling and movement, so they can integrate their arrangements without having to be an inconvenience or hindrance.
Depending on the event — its size, duration, location, content and so forth — federal agents may request nothing more than a small room to serve as a command center. The larger and more public the event, the more complex their ask and the greater the need to integrate them throughout the agenda.
As part of the collaboration, you can expect to assist federal officers with:
- Site visits, so they can assess the venue for risks, ingress/egress, room location, etc.
- Command center location
- Scheduling, so they know when and where their VIP will be moving
In my experience, the federal officers have taken care of their rooming, F&B and any other hotel needs.
Preparedness remains key
These days, no matter where high-profile speakers show up, extra protection should be the rule of the day, especially if your attendees include high-level government officials or anyone controversial or divisive. The chances of something happening at one of your conferences are on the rise, given the prevalence of mental health and behavioral issues as well as the increase in political and economic tensions.
Fight the temptation to wait until it happens at your meeting. Be proactive now. Get the help you need to learn how to work with your partners and learn how to keep your attendees safer. And don’t hesitate to collaborate with law enforcement. Keeping one bad guy out or preventing one attendee from a meltdown is more than worth the money and the effort.
Alan Kleinfeld, senior director of meetings & safety at Arrive Management Group, has more years in meeting management then he wants to admit, combined with two decades of law enforcement experience.
