Alabama system BOT approved the purchase of 180 walk-through metal detectors for $982,800GETTY IMAGES
The Univ. of Alabama will "purchase metal detectors for the athletics department to be installed outside Bryant-Denny Stadium this fall during home football games," according to Ed Enoch of the TUSCALOOSA NEWS. The UA system BOT "approved the purchase of 180 walk-through metal detectors" for $982,800. The purchase will be "funded with athletics funds." Assistant VP/Public Safety Ralph Clayton said that the metal detectors will be "deployed at every gate of the football stadium and potential other large athletic events." UA "tested pass-through metal detectors" at Bryant-Denny during a home game against Mercer last year. Based on positive feedback, Clayton said that the school "began exploring the purchase of metal detectors." At its spring meetings, the SEC announced it had "decided that metal detectors would be utilized at SEC football stadiums and other events as determined by each campus" by '20. The plan for the fall is to "use 164 at the entry gates and 16 for additional follow-up screenings when visitors set off the detectors more than once" (TUSCALOOSA NEWS, 7/17). In Birmingham, Rainer Sabin noted the initiative will "allow the university to better enforce its weapons and firearms policy." The school "prohibits the possession of guns" on campus. Clayton said that there is a "strong probability the implementation of metal detectors will extend beyond Bryant-Denny Stadium to other athletic facilities, including Coleman Coliseum" (AL.com, 7/16).
