The enhanced security measures that the Raiders have implemented for their home games haven’t made the Black Hole a totally peaceful place -- as the photo here of two fans fighting at Monday night’s opener demonstrates -- but the NFL’s security department says the atmosphere for games in Oakland is getting better.
Jeff Miller, the head of NFL security, told the Bay Area News Group that the Raiders as a franchise have done a lot to make their stadium safer, and that the vast majority of Raiders fans want to attend games in a safe environment.
“One of the first games I worked when I came to the league was here, on a Monday night [in 2008], and it was a tough situation,” Miller said. “I’ll tell you what, each year they’ve made tremendous improvement and it’s turned around significantly. A lot of that has to do with the assistance we get from the fans.”
The NFL has required all teams to use metal detectors at their home stadiums, and the Raiders told fans that security will be so thorough this year that they should arrive two hours early to make sure they can get to their seats in time. That’s been met with mixed reviews from fans, some of whom say it makes them feel safer while others say the wait time is unacceptable.
In Oakland, the league says security is working.
