NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The NFL draft will be one of the largest events ever hosted by the city of Nashville and it comes with some massive security concerns.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall says the trick is working a balance between keeping people safe and allowing them to still having a good time.
The concern is obvious when you consider past unrelated, but terrifying incidents.
Sheriff Hall says he's all too aware of the Boston Marathon Bombing, the Las Vegas mass shooting, and just this past week the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka.
Yes, security in Nashville for the NFL draft will be significant but Hall says, "People are coming from everywhere and you don't want it to be uncomfortable for anyone. The idea is to have a good time and make the city look safe and welcoming."
That, of course, is the trick.
Sheriff's deputies will join Metro police and NFL Security working the draft beginning Thursday. That's four-hundred-plus officers.
Some security you will see and some you will not.
The sheriff says working an event with a crowd in the hundreds of thousands is a challenge.
"The reality is to do security in a crowd of that size and be aware of all the potential problems around you is unnerving. There is no way around it," said Hall.
But the sheriff said he's confident the event will be secure and those who attend will be safe.
Attendees must abide by the rules and security checkpoints, very similarly to what's been done in the past for the CMAs or the city's big 4th of July celebration.
But the draft, along with Saturday's Music City Marathon, may well transcend all those events.
The sheriff just asks people be aware of their surroundings and as always report anything suspicious.
