University of Illinois officials are considering installing walk-through metal detectors at the State Farm Center. Director Kevin Ullestad tells the Champaign News-Gazette that officials are considering the detectors as part of an ongoing security review.
If installed, the metal detectors would be permanent and used for all athletic events as well as concerts and shows. Ullestad says staff members use hand-held wands at shows with a "more active crowd." They include rock concerts and hip-hop shows.
He says the hand-held detectors were heavily used immediately after the 9-11 terrorist attacks but less often in subsequent years. Interest in using them escalated after 23 people died in a 2017 bombing at Manchester Arena in Britain.
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