Pitt to contribute to NFL Draft public safety effort

Pittsburgh’s public safety infrastructure is bracing for an influx of visitors during this week’s NFL Draft, and Pitt is making contributions to reduce the strain on resources.

Up to 700,000 attendees are expected at the 2026 NFL Draft festivities on Pittsburgh’s North Shore and Point State Park starting Thursday. In response, officials are preparing to increase availability of public safety resources, from law enforcement and health care systems to large-scale emergency management. Pitt and its affiliates, including Pitt police, UPMC and Prevention at Pitt, are partnering with city agencies and local nonprofits to maintain public safety throughout the week of the draft.

Law enforcement

Pitt police resources will be present on the North Shore during the draft under a cooperation agreement passed by Pittsburgh City Council on March 31. The Pitt police department is one of 18 external agencies collaborating with Pittsburgh City police to enhance security throughout the city during the week of the draft. 

Emily Bourne, a public information officer for the City’s public safety department, said Pittsburgh residents can expect increased police, fire and EMS presence across the city, including in Oakland, during NFL Draft week. 

“We’re not just pulling resources over to the North Shore for the draft footprint, but we’re also extending or intensifying the amount of public safety resources, including police, that are dispersed across all zones,” Bourne said.

While specific public safety plans are not publicly available, city officials confirmed contingency plans are in place for a multitude of possible emergency situations. Anthony Palermo, chief of staff for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and agency lead for the 2026 NFL Draft, said the city worked with NFL security to develop a safety plan designed to “ensure a safe and secure experience for all those who will be in Pittsburgh during the draft.”

The NFL will announce its public safety plans at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Medical care

UPMC, as well as the city’s second-largest hospital system Allegheny Health Network, is coordinating with City officials and the NFL to meet increased medical demands during the draft.

Jennifer McDermott-Grubb, assistant chief of EMS for the City of Pittsburgh, said in a recent press conference that UPMC and AHN are providing “enhanced medical support and rapid response capabilities” for event-specific needs. According to McDermott-Grubb, all draft-related supplemental staffing will be in addition to regular City EMS staff, and resources will not be pulled from other areas of the city in support of the draft.

According to Leonard Weiss, medical director of the City’s Department of Public Safety and associate professor of emergency medicine at Pitt, UPMC is working closely with law enforcement and paramedics to coordinate on-site medical care during the draft. 

Weiss said UPMC is staffing mobile medical forts and first aid stations on the North Shore and at Point State Park with more than 100 health care workers during the three days of the draft. “We will have dedicated medical equipment and medications and tools to essentially treat anything that comes our way, with the hope that we will be able to treat the patient and then send them back to the event,” Weiss said. “If something is more critical, we can also treat and stabilize anything while getting them quickly to the hospital.”

Weiss said UPMC does not anticipate a large volume of patients that will need to be transported to hospitals but has a plan in place in the event of a surge in patients.

“We have a real robust communication system where we’re tracking all of the resources and personnel, bed availability, [intensive care unit] and operating room availability and emergency department capacity, so we know how many people are being treated at any given time,” Weiss said.

AHN has its own medical response plans in place for draft weekend. According to a press release, AHN Downtown Express Care will be extending its hours to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. beginning Wednesday, April 22, until Saturday, April 25. AHN will also have a mobile clinic stationed in Market Square. 

Near Acrisure Stadium, physicians and nurses from AHN Prehospital Care and AHN Allegheny General Hospital will staff a medical fort to provide immediate medical assistance to draft attendees. AHN officials will also have a command center at Nova Place on the North Side to manage the flow of patients at care sites and at nearby AGH’s emergency department.

“AGH has a long history of effectively responding to events that bring high volumes of people to the North Side and patients to our doors,” Brent Rau, medical director of the AGH emergency department, said in the press release. “We look forward to meeting our community’s health needs throughout the draft and anticipate a well-executed event for the city of Pittsburgh.” 

Sexual violence prevention and response

Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, a local crisis center, and other local advocates are warning that large events like the draft can create an increased risk of sexual violence and sex trafficking in host cities.

On April 14, PAAR and Prevention at Pitt held a bystander training session at the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation that was open to community members in preparation for the NFL Draft. 

Carrie Benson, director of Prevention at Pitt, said the office is doing extra outreach and will be available to support students that experience “any kind of misconduct or harassment.”

“We are adding extra support [this] week — not just for the NFL Draft, but it’s a stressful time of the year for students, too, with commencement coming up,” Benson said. “We will offer additional drop-in hours, and on Friday, we will have snacks and a quiet area for studying for anyone who needs some extra support or just a safe space to hang out.”