APPLETON, Wis. — The start of the NFL draft in Green Bay is now a little over a week away, and all of the city's months of planning are now being implemented across Titletown.
That includes making sure everyone is safe during the event.
Visitors inside official draft areas will only be allowed to bring clear bags that are no larger than 12x6x12 inches. Small non-clear bags that don’t exceed 4.5x6.5 inches can be taken in as well. Prohibited items include firearms, knives, drones and fireworks.
Security screenings will begin at noon on Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Neighboring Outagamie County is also preparing to keep fans safe.
The multitude of NFL fans coming to Wisconsin doesn’t intimidate Captain Nathan Borman with the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office.
Borman said his department is used to managing big crowds.
“We’re accustomed to dealing with things like Oktoberfest, Packers games, EAA and large events that come to our area frequently. Yes, this is exceptionally large,” Borman said.
250,000 NFL fans are expected to flood Brown County and spill out into neighboring Outagamie County. So, Captain Borman said there’s been a great deal of preparation for the NFL draft.
“We’re adding patrol officers to the airport basically before the draft and after the draft when we expect that airport traffic to be much higher. And then, we’re adding active dispatchers here in the 911 center during the times of the draft, so that if call volume were to increase and we experience spillover from Brown County,” Captain Borman said.
If a major, unfortunate incident should occur during the NFL Draft and a local municipality exhausts its resources, Chrissi Lowery, Deputy Director of Outagamie County Emergency Management, said they’re ready to take action.
“We plan for all hazards. So, it really depends on what’s going on and where the need is. We’re very flexible that way. We work with law enforcement, fire departments and our elected officials. We work around the region as far as big incidents and trainings,” Lowery said.
From airports to hospital systems ,and even 911 emergency centers, Outagamie and Brown County emergency and law enforcement officials have coordinated extensively.
“We’re very fortunate to have some good resources and partners in this area, in the Fox Valley. So it’s, it’s a good time to be here for sure,” Lowery said.
