RENTON — Don’t get unruly yelling and berating that fan in a 49ers jersey on Sunday at Lumen Field. It might be an undercover police officer.
The Seahawks announced Thursday that undercover police officers will be wearing opposing teams’ jerseys during home games at Lumen Field this season in an effort to detect fans violating the stadium code of conduct.
The announcement by the team is essentially a reminder. The Seahawks have used undercover officers at games to help detect and control problems in the stands since 2012. A similar announcement was made before the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
As part of the announcement, the Seahawks said, “Law enforcement and Lumen Field event staff will proactively intervene to support an environment where all fans can enjoy the game,” while trying to curb certain behaviors or actions in the stands.
Some of those include:
— Unruly, disruptive or illegal behavior.
— Overly intoxicated fans or those impaired by alcohol or other substances.
— Offensive language or obscene gestures and those used to “instigate, incite or encourage a confrontation or physical assault.”
— Interfering with the game, including throwing objects on the field.
— Verbal or physical harassment of home or visiting team fans.
While the undercover officers will be in the jerseys of the 49ers for the opener on Sunday, the Seahawks are hoping that most of the crowd will wear some shade of blue or green and thus less possible clashes between opposing fans.
The Seahawks re-emphasized to season-ticket holders this past offseason that their tickets can be revoked if their sole purpose for having them is to resell them. The goal is to have fewer opposing fans in the stadium after clear situations last year against the 49ers, Buffalo and Green Bay where there were significant numbers in the crowd not cheering for the home team.
Tim Booth: Tim Booth is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, where he covers the Kraken and the ongoing story surrounding possible NBA expansion and helps with coverage of the Seahawks and Mariners.