Fans entering Dodger Stadium will have to pass through permanent metal detectors beginning in 2015, team president Stan Kasten said Tuesday.
All major-league teams were recently presented with MLB’s plans for heightened stadium security, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that league’s security director, John Skinner, recommended that all 30 stadiums install walk-through metal detectors. The Seattle Mariners announced earlier today that Safeco Field is getting a head start with the installation of permanent magnometers in time for Opening Day of this year.
Kasten said the Dodgers will use the 2014 season to experiment with different screening methods at each entrance point, “and by ’15 we’re going to have all the [permanent] gates. We’re all expected to have that same kind of security in place. Everything will be some variation on Seattle.”
Fans arriving at Dodger Stadium are already subject to bag searches and, in some cases, hand-held magnetic wand scans. Kasten said that no security devices are being installed as part of the ongoing stadium renovations.
In the opinion of fans at least, the current screening process has proven effective. MLB’s mandate had more impact on the decision to install permanent metal detectors than any fan feedback, Kasten said.
“I can’t tell you that we had a lot of specific complaints about that,” he said.
4 p.m. update: A spokesperson for MLB essentially confirmed the standardized security plan that Kasten mentioned.