NFL updating league-wide safety, security protocols in wake of deadly Midtown mass shooting at 345 Park Avenue
The NFL is implementing new safety protocols across the league in the wake of last month's deadly mass shooting at a building in Manhattan.
Until last month, the NFL headquarters was part of a typical, and well-known high-rise office building in Midtown Manhattan. Now, it's part of a stronghold of security after a shooter walked in and killed four people inside the building before killing himself.
A lot has changed inside 345 Park Ave . in the weeks since then. Gun-detecting K9's and a noticeable security presence await all who enter the building, the same doors Shane Tamura entered with an assault rifle and a desire, investigators believe, to target NFL headquarters.
September 4 is opening day for the NFL, so things are heightened right now.
Taking precedence over the typical priorities of roster management and the fan experience is now security beyond 345 Park Ave.
The NFL on Monday told team owners to update threat assessments, have armed officers at team and league facilities and screen for weapons, similar to how it's done at games.
Former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce says the game has changed.
"You have to really go into the weeds here," he said. "You have to have threat assessments redone in every situation and see what else you can do. Are there are any poison pen letters coming in? Are there any nasty calls coming in that you can mitigate and do a scrub on social media of those individuals? Yes you can."
"There were 5 to 10,000 people just lining up outside of practice, outside the fences and obviously there was nobody checking them there," said former NFL player Gary Plummer.
Plummer spent 12 seasons as an NFL linebacker, retiring in 1997. He recalls less than robust security protocols in place at league facilities for players and personnel.
When asked if it should have taken a tragedy like the one at 345 Park Ave. for the NFL to start enhancing security protocols, Plummer said that it's unfortunately, "kind of normal."
"I think a lot of businesses take a long time to react and to pivot," he said.
Authorities say Tamura, who believed he had CTE, carried a grievance against the NFL for concealing the dangers of football, but never made it to league offices at 345 Park because he took the wrong elevator. He did, however, kill four people, and injured an NFL employee.
The league committee that assembled Monday to implement new safety protocols says it recognizes these changes will affect day-to-day operations and require more time and resources, but there is no higher priority than the safety of players, coaches and staff.
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