Moravian-Silesian police officers will use, among other things, special cameras and software that can recognize faces during the World Hockey Championship, which will also be held in Ostrava.
Cameras will be in the fan zone. The regional fire brigade will create a temporary unit that will be located directly in the hall. In order to get it together, the management had to limit the use of holidays.
The director of the Moravian-Silesian Police, Tomáš Kužel, and the head of the regional fire department, Radim Kuchař, told journalists today.
During the tournament, police officers will use all available camera systems around the hall or in vehicles.
“A special software that enables facial recognition will be installed right in the fan zone,” Kužel said. He added that police officers will not use these cameras to target potential risk persons.
They will use them mainly when solving specific cases. “The cameras only visually capture the face, but in no case does it identify a specific person, the face is not associated with a specific name,” he added.
Kužel added that the police will deploy several hundred police officers every day during the measures. There will be not only patrols around the hall, but also traffic police.
The orderly or intervention unit, pyrotechnics or air service will also be ready to intervene. Around the hall, especially near the fan zones, the police will place technical devices that will make an attack by car or truck impossible.
Moravian-Silesian firefighters are also preparing for the championship. “A temporary unit of firefighters will be set up right in the arena. There are six of them in Ostrava, this will be the seventh,” said Kuchař.
The twelve-member unit will be in the hall every game day. For its composition, the management of the fire department had to limit the use of holidays. The dispatching of emergency line operators will have reinforcements. There will be more people on the phones who speak English or German.
Another group of specially trained firefighters will be working directly in the hall. “It will be a detection group that will be able to detect dangerous substances,” explained Kuchař.
Police officers warn against buying tickets from traffickers. “Fans who do not have a ticket are warned to avoid buying from unknown persons, for example, near the sports hall and on the black market, including buying through unverified agencies via the Internet and social networks. The best option is to use sales exclusively at official distribution points,” he said Cone.
