Event Security Planning Checklist

How to use this checklist

Start it the day the date and venue are fixed and finish it at the briefing before doors open. Share it with the venue manager, the caterer or bar manager and the security company; the walk-through is where most of it gets ticked. Price Protection’s supervisor walks the venue with the host before writing the post orders for the event and briefs the officers on the day.

Before you book

• Date, hours, venue and expected guest count fixed
• Public access decided: invitation only, ticketed or open
• Alcohol: served, sold or none; who serves it; last call
• Known concerns: a guest who should not attend, a dispute, a high-profile attendee, a history at the venue
• Venue’s own requirements for security, insurance and licensing obtained
• Security company booked with the walk-through date set

The venue walk

• Guest entry and vendor entry identified and separated
• All exits located, unlocked during the event and free of storage
• Stage, altar, dance floor, bar and buffet located; crowd bunching points noted
• Places guests could wander into (back of house, pool, roof, neighboring property) identified
• Parking: lots, valet, overflow, the walk from the lot in the dark
• Lighting outside at the hour the event ends
• Ambulance access and a meeting point for emergency services
• Venue’s evacuation plan and assembly point obtained

Entry and credentials

• Guest list, tickets or wristbands, and who holds the list
• Bag policy set by the host and posted at the entry
• Re-entry policy
• Vendor and staff identification
• A place for uninvited people to wait while the host is reached

Posts and orders

• Number of officers settled from the guest count, hours, alcohol and layout
• Posts assigned: entry, floor, bar or stage, parking, roving
• Armed or unarmed decided for each post, with the reason recorded
• Written post orders for each post: position, duties, contacts
• Host’s contact and the venue manager’s contact on every set of orders
• Officer arrival time set before doors

Emergencies and incidents

• Medical: 911, first aid within training, meeting point, who informs the host
• Fire or alarm: venue plan, assembly point, officers’ roles
• Intoxicated or disruptive guest: host’s wishes, courteous contact, escort, when police are called
• Uninvited person: who decides, how they are asked to leave, trespass notice if needed
• Lost child or vulnerable guest: procedure agreed with the host
• Weather: an outdoor event’s shelter and cancellation plan

On the day

• Officers walked the venue and read the orders
• Briefing by the host and the supervisor: schedule, VIPs, concerns, changes
• Radios checked; phone numbers confirmed
• Log kept through the event; incidents reported the same night
• Close-down: guests out, parking cleared, venue handed back, report to the host next day

Notes on filling it in

The entry design and the emergency plan are the two sections that decide whether the evening is calm. A single controlled entry with a list and a polite place to wait removes most of the confrontations events produce; a medical plan with a meeting point saves minutes that matter. Decide the alcohol questions with the host in advance, not at the bar at eleven. The briefing article covers the last hour before doors, and the event officer count answer explains how the number is settled.