Public Safety at Mega-Events: What FIFA 2026 Can Teach Cities Before LA28

Author’s note: D’Andre Lampkin served as Planning Chief in his capacity as a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff assigned to the Parks Bureau for FIFA Fan Zone events held in Los Angeles County parks. This article reflects public-facing lessons from preparedness practice and does not disclose sensitive operational details or represent official Department policy.

Mega-events are often described by their spectacle: the crowds, the music, the flags, the athletes, the national pride, and the shared excitement of watching the world gather in one place. But for public safety professionals, emergency managers, local governments, community organizations, transportation agencies, and venue operators, mega-events are something more. They are real-time stress tests of regional preparedness.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has given Los Angeles County one of the most valuable rehearsals it will have before the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Los Angeles is hosting eight FIFA World Cup matches, the FIFA Fan Festival at the LA Memorial Coliseum at Exposition Park, Official Fan Zones across the region, and 39 days of fan celebrations. (losangelesfwc26.com)

That matters because LA28 will not be contained inside one stadium, one city, or one agency’s jurisdiction. The official LA28 venue plan spans more than 40 competition venues across Southern California and beyond, including a Whittier Narrows Zone. LA28 also states that the Games will be the first in 80 years to use no new permanent venues, relying instead on existing stadiums, arenas, and sites across the region. (LA 2028)

The Whittier Narrows Clay Shooting Center, surrounded by the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, is scheduled to serve as the backdrop for Olympic shotgun events in 2028. (LA 2028) For communities, public agencies, and civic institutions across the region, FIFA 2026 is not simply a sports moment. It is a preview of the coordination, communication, transportation, public safety, and community trust required before LA28.

The first lesson: planning is public safety before enforcement is needed

The safest event is not the one with the most visible enforcement. It is the one where planning has already reduced confusion, improved communication, identified contingencies, and allowed each partner to understand their role before the public arrives.

Serving as Planning Chief for FIFA Fan Zone events in Los Angeles County parks reinforced a principle I have learned through emergency management and incident command training: planning is not paperwork for paperwork’s sake. It is the structure that allows a complex operation to become understandable. It creates shared expectations. It helps decision-makers see gaps before they become problems. It gives field personnel a common operating picture. Most importantly, it protects the public by turning assumptions into assignments.

The National Incident Management System exists for that reason. FEMA describes NIMS as a framework that guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents. (US Fire Administration) For planned events, the Incident Command System provides a disciplined way to define objectives, assignments, communications, medical considerations, safety messages, and documentation. FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute maintains ICS forms for incident objectives, resource requests, activity logs, operational planning, safety analysis, and communications planning. (FEMA NDEMU)

For cities preparing for LA28, the lesson is clear: do not wait for an emergency to test your emergency management system. Use every parade, concert, festival, championship celebration, fan zone, marathon, and civic gathering as a planning laboratory.

The second lesson: mega-events are regional, even when the venue is local

A common mistake in special-event planning is to treat the venue as the event. In reality, the public safety footprint begins far outside the gates. It includes transit stations, pedestrian routes, parking areas, rideshare locations, vendor zones, nearby businesses, neighborhoods, hotels, informal celebration areas, public parks, medical access points, and evacuation routes.

Los Angeles County’s FIFA Fan Zones illustrated this point well. The Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park Fan Zone was scheduled for July 4–5 and included family activities, a community marketplace, resources, music, food trucks, and Metro access through the C Line to Avalon Station. The Whittier Narrows Fan Zone was scheduled for July 9–11 and included cultural activities, a community marketplace, local food, and Foothill Transit guidance. (losangelesfwc26.com)

Those details may sound like tourism information, but they are also public safety information. A family-friendly gathering requires child reunification thinking. A community marketplace requires fire, health, accessibility, and crowd-flow considerations. Transit guidance requires pedestrian safety, wayfinding, traffic coordination, and contingency planning when arrivals or departures surge.

Public safety at mega-events is not just about what happens inside a secured footprint. It is about how people move, gather, celebrate, become tired, become overheated, become separated, seek help, and eventually return home.

The third lesson: transportation is a safety system

Transportation is often discussed as a convenience issue. At a mega-event, it becomes a life-safety issue.

Los Angeles is already using the World Cup as an early test of transit strategies before LA28. The Associated Press reported that Metro added 15 shuttle lines for World Cup access to SoFi Stadium, recorded nearly 50,000 rail rides and more than 30,000 shuttle rides for one July 2 match, and expects to use a similar approach for the Olympics because many venues do not connect directly to the rail system. AP also reported that Metro borrowed about 200 buses for World Cup demand, while officials have said they may need to borrow 3,000 buses for the Olympics. (AP News)

This is one of the most important lessons for LA28. A transportation plan is not separate from a security plan. If transit fails, crowding increases. If shuttles are unclear, pedestrians improvise. If rideshare zones are unmanaged, streets become congested. If people do not trust transit safety, they may attempt to drive into restricted areas. If post-event departures are not staggered, a celebration can become a compression hazard.

Cities preparing for LA28 should treat transportation, public works, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, disability access, homelessness outreach, and public information as one operating system. The goal is not simply to move people. The goal is to move people safely, predictably, and with dignity.

The fourth lesson: crowd behavior changes outside the stadium

Mega-events create emotional momentum. The same crowd that is calm before a match may become unpredictable after a major win, a controversial loss, heat exposure, alcohol consumption, transit delay, or rumor spreading through social media.

This is why planning must account for more than the ticketed venue. Communities must ask uncomfortable questions before the crowd arrives: Where will people gather if their team wins? What happens if the venue reaches capacity? Where will overflow be directed? How will medical teams reach someone in a dense crowd? What messages will be sent when areas close? Who makes the call to redirect people? How will agencies communicate if cell networks slow down? What is the plan for families, older adults, people with disabilities, and those who do not speak English?

These questions are not signs of fear. They are signs of respect for the public.

The House Committee on Homeland Security has specifically identified fan zones, parties, parks, and other gathering areas as softer targets that require attention alongside stadium security. The Committee has also emphasized the importance of preparedness, training, information-sharing, and coordination among local, state, federal, and private-sector partners. (Homeland Security Committee)

The fifth lesson: community trust is an operational asset

Mega-event safety cannot be built through enforcement alone. Residents need to understand why roads are closed, why bags are screened, why drones are restricted, why certain areas are fenced, why vendors need permits, why transit routes are recommended, and how to ask for help.

The Los Angeles Fan Zones were designed as community gathering spaces, not merely overflow viewing areas. They included public-facing elements such as community marketplaces, food, cultural activities, entertainment, and transit guidance. (losangelesfwc26.com) That community-centered design is important. A public safety plan is stronger when local vendors, neighborhood leaders, cultural organizations, youth groups, transit partners, and outreach teams are part of the ecosystem.

For LA28, this means community engagement cannot be an afterthought. It should begin now. Public agencies should communicate early with residents and businesses near venues, identify trusted messengers, create multilingual public information products, and prepare clear explanations of security measures. The more people understand the plan, the less they are forced to guess.

Community trust also protects civil liberties. Mega-event security often involves advanced technology, federal partnerships, intelligence sharing, drone detection, access control, and credentialing. These tools may be necessary, but they should be paired with transparency, accountability, and clear limits. Safety and trust should not be treated as competing values. Trust is part of safety.

The sixth lesson: cyber, drones, and information-sharing are now core public safety issues

The security environment for mega-events has changed. Drones, cyber intrusions, disinformation, network outages, and digital infrastructure failures are now part of the public safety picture.

Reuters reported that U.S. agencies had seized more than 600 drones near FIFA World Cup venues and fan zones since the start of the tournament on June 11, 2026. The report also noted that the FAA barred drones from matches and related fan gatherings, and that operators entering restricted airspace could face fines, criminal charges, and confiscation. (Reuters)

The House Committee on Homeland Security has also identified drone warfare, cyber intrusions, foreign threats, critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, and information-sharing gaps as major concerns for World Cup and LA28 planning. (Homeland Security Committee) In April 2026, the Committee stated that clear and timely information flows are necessary to mitigate threats to host venues, plan for contingencies, manage crowd volumes, and avoid duplication of effort or intelligence blind spots. (Homeland Security Committee)

This should shape how cities prepare. Public safety planning must include more than field staffing. It must include communications redundancy, cyber readiness, social media monitoring protocols, vendor technology review, emergency alert processes, drone reporting procedures, and clear rules for how information moves between agencies.

For smaller cities and community organizations, the lesson is not that every event needs a federal-scale security operation. The lesson is that every event needs a realistic understanding of its vulnerabilities. A community festival may not face the same threat profile as the Olympics, but it may still depend on temporary Wi-Fi, digital ticketing, generators, radios, volunteers, social media updates, traffic control, and vendor compliance. Those systems should be tested before the public depends on them.

What cities should do before LA28

The road to LA28 should be treated as a regional preparedness campaign. Cities, counties, school districts, transportation agencies, hospitals, park systems, nonprofit organizations, and business districts should use the next two years to strengthen the basics.

First, cities should build event planning teams that include public safety, emergency management, transportation, public works, parks, public health, communications, and community partners.

Second, they should develop scalable Incident Action Plans for recurring events so staff become comfortable with objectives, assignments, maps, communications, medical plans, and safety messages.

Third, they should conduct tabletop exercises around realistic scenarios: heat illness, missing children, crowd surge, protest activity, transit disruption, drone sighting, power failure, medical surge, and severe weather.

Fourth, they should conduct after-action reviews after every major event and actually implement the lessons learned.

Finally, they should communicate with the public in plain language before, during, and after events.

The best time to improve a mega-event safety system is not during the mega-event. It is during the smaller events that come before it.

From FIFA to LA28: the opportunity ahead

The 2026 FIFA World Cup gives Los Angeles County and cities across the region a rare opportunity. It allows agencies to test coordination, observe crowd behavior, refine transit strategies, strengthen community engagement, and identify planning gaps while there is still time to improve before LA28.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will be larger, longer, more complex, and more globally visible. The House Committee on Homeland Security reported that LA28 organizers estimate the Games will bring 13 million spectators from around the world, roughly 12,000 Olympic athletes, and 4,480 Paralympic athletes. The Committee also described the scale as equivalent to hosting seven Super Bowls per day for 16 consecutive days. (Homeland Security Committee)

The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the greater Los Angeles area have been designated a National Special Security Event, placing the U.S. Secret Service in a central role for security planning and federal coordination. (US Secret Service)

But the success of LA28 will not be measured only by medals, ceremonies, or television images. It will be measured by whether residents could still move through their communities, whether families felt safe, whether visitors found help when they needed it, whether neighborhoods were respected, whether responders had clear direction, whether agencies communicated effectively, and whether the region became more prepared after the flame left.

FIFA 2026 is teaching cities that mega-event safety is not a single plan. It is a culture of preparation. It is the discipline to coordinate early, the humility to learn from every event, and the commitment to protect both the celebration and the community that hosts it.

If LA28 is to become a model for the world, the work must begin now—not with fear, but with foresight.

Sources Consulted

Los Angeles World Cup 26 official host information, including eight matches, the FIFA Fan Festival, Official Fan Zones, and 39 days of fan celebrations. (losangelesfwc26.com)

Los Angeles World Cup 26 Fan Zones, including Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park and Whittier Narrows dates, programming, and transit guidance. (losangelesfwc26.com)

LA28 official venue plan and Whittier Narrows Clay Shooting Center information. (LA 2028)

FEMA National Incident Management System and FEMA Emergency Management Institute ICS forms. (US Fire Administration)

Associated Press reporting on Los Angeles Metro’s World Cup transit operations and LA28 planning. (AP News)

Reuters reporting on drone seizures and restricted airspace enforcement around World Cup venues and fan zones. (Reuters)

House Committee on Homeland Security materials on FIFA 2026, LA28 security coordination, cyber threats, drone threats, crowd-volume planning, and information-sharing. (Homeland Security Committee)

U.S. Secret Service announcement that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in greater Los Angeles were designated a National Special Security Event. (US Secret Service)