In the aftermath of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, the Pasadena Police Department is reviewing security plans and policies for the live music venues it covers—namely, the Rose Bowl.
"Whenever you have an event like this, we always review our operational plans and adjust our staffing to make sure that we're staffed accordingly and that we can keep everybody safe," said Art Chute, lieutenant with the Pasadena Police Department.
Los Angeles is known for its live music scene and packed calendar of concerts happening all over the city on any given night. Case in point: This Friday, Coldplay will be at the Rose Bowl.
Chute said that while events like the Las Vegas mass shooting alert the department to risks, he is not overly concerned that something similar could happen at the Rose Bowl with the measures they have in place.
"We feel very comfortable with our staffing levels and what we have deployed for this Friday."
On the types of events that have altered security at the Rose Bowl
"We've changed things in the past depending on what type of events ... Most recently we had the Ariana Grande [concert] bombing in May of this year ... This was an event where people were leaving the concert and there was an explosion. That made us look at our staffing levels and we've increased it since then."
On where officers patrol during events
"We do patrol the outer crest of the Rose Bowl, which would include the streets. It includes those hills [which are located in the background of the facility]. But more importantly ... we have oversight from our helicopter above, which is dedicated to the Rose Bowl and the event."
On making people feel safe at the Rose Bowl
"I think once everybody gets there, they do have a good time and relax. It's a great venue for any type of event, specifically a concert. We do have overt resources to make people feel comfortable and see that there's a large police presence and that's very visible. We also have a covert police presence; there's things that we have deployed that people won't see, but it does go to their safety."