The Oklahoma City Special Protection, Events, and Emergency Response (SPEER) unit helped the city celebrate its triumph with an OKC Thunder NBA champions parade—30 years after the Murrah Building bombing.
Key Takeaways
With just 24 hours to plan, Oklahoma City used GIS to coordinate its massive NBA championship celebration.
Years of perfecting real-time tracking systems provided the proven infrastructure to manage the parade safely.
Oklahoma City Police shared GIS data to work closely with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Oklahoma National Guard, and other state and local agencies.
Oklahomans were understandably exuberant when the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the 2025 National Basketball Association (NBA) championship—the team’s first title since moving to Oklahoma and the state’s first ever major professional sports championship.
On the late June morning of the celebratory parade, an estimated 500,000 fans gathered along the route. It was the largest crowd in the city’s history. To keep everyone safe and keep routine city operations flowing, the Oklahoma City Police Department established a command center and coordinated a large force of officers, first responders, and volunteers.
For Police Captain Audrea George, parade day represented a significant operational challenge. The compressed timeline, massive crowd, and high-profile nature of the event created multiple risk factors that required careful coordination. She monitored her radio and her screen as her staff gathered updates from every checkpoint, every intersection, every critical juncture along the 10-block path.
Thirty years earlier, the devastating bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building had prompted the Oklahoma City Police Department to make strategic investments in training and preparedness for large-scale public events. The bombing was what had motivated George to join the police force, and she was in the first class to graduate following the tragedy.
Today, the department’s commitment to professional development and operational readiness shapes its approach to event management. George leads the security planning and response efforts to protect large-scale events.
Creating a Coordinated Response
When the Thunder won Game 7 of the NBA playoffs, George and her unit—known as Special Protection, Events, and Emergency Response, or SPEER—had just 24 hours to prepare for what would become the largest celebration in Oklahoma City history. Public safety planning began immediately. The operation required a systematic, data-driven approach.
In sports, there’s an old superstition about not planning victory parades too early—it’s considered bad luck. Most cities would struggle with such a compressed timeline. But Oklahoma City was ready with modern geographic information system (GIS) technology that powered real-time coordination. Captain George and Master Sergeant Kevin Long, SPEER’s GIS specialist, had refined these capabilities for years while managing complex events.
“This is exactly why we built these capabilities,” Long said, recalling how he swiftly mapped a parade route with the GIS-powered ArcGIS Mission situational awareness tool. Within hours, George and Long had analyzed crowd flow patterns, identified optimal officer placement, located every security checkpoint, and mapped emergency response corridors.
OKC Thunder parade fans
Crowds gather at Scissortail Park for the Oklahoma City Thunder's championship parade finale. The city's GIS-enabled coordination allowed police to monitor crowd density and traffic flow in real time, ensuring safe movement for an estimated 500,000 attendees.
Oklahoma City’s Emergency Operations Center where Captain Audrea George and her team coordinated 1,200 personnel using real-time GIS tracking to manage half a million fans safely during the Thunder's championship parade.
The technology proved its worth immediately. As George explained, “Just looking at the map with that real-time location data [we could see]—oh hey, there’s a gap right here.” On the map she could watch each officer fill those coverage gaps as they moved into position.
On parade day, George deployed a hands-on leadership approach. Rather than directing from the command post, she moved through the crowd, monitoring critical points and redirecting traffic flows when bottlenecks formed.
Decisions were informed by real-time data—tracking crowd density metrics, coordinating with federal agencies on designated security zones, monitoring emergency resources and corridor accessibility. All security personnel could access the operational picture on their devices.
Despite the 24-hour timeline, all officers and emergency responders knew their assignments and were equipped to adapt as conditions changed. The planning process had emphasized flexibility and ongoing communications to address emerging challenges.
Marathon runners and spectators behind metal barriers at Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon with festival banners visible in background.
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon participants navigate crowd control barriers. The annual event became Oklahoma City’s testing ground for real-time GIS tracking systems later used for the Thunder parade.
Three mobile phone screens displaying ArcGIS Mission maps with officer location markers and chat interface for event coordination.
The ArcGIS Mission mobile interface shows real-time officer positions during Oklahoma City events. Master Sergeant Kevin Long’s team uses these maps to track personnel across 26 miles, reducing Captain George’s route checks from 20 times daily to 4 or 5.
Computer screen showing ArcGIS Mission map with participant list and location markers for Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon coordination
The ArcGIS Mission Manager interface during the 2024 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon shows real-time tracking of personnel across the 26-mile route. This system became the foundation for coordinating the Thunder's championship parade with 1,200 officers.
Marathon runners on course with memorial banners displaying photos of bombing victims lining the route behind metal barriers.
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon runners pass memorial banners honoring the 168 bombing victims. This annual event provided Captain George’s team with crucial training for large-scale event coordination, later applied to the Thunder championship parade.
From Memorial to Preparation
Though monumental, the NBA championship parade was not the police department’s first run at a large-scale event.
They have covered the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon for over two decades. The annual event honoring the 168 bombing victims has provided both remembrance and operational training. Every marathon is an opportunity for George and her team to refine their operational approach. They study crowd patterns, anticipate traffic bottlenecks, and adjust resources before safety problems materialize.
The marathon’s tracking system—monitoring 27,000 participants and security staff across the city—serves as the foundation for managing other events. Its annual data collection opportunities have informed operational improvements. From there, the department has been able to generate performance metrics on crowd management protocols, resource deployment efficiency, and incident response times—data that directly influenced parade planning.
Officers managing the annual marathon use templated GIS surveys and reports. They interview drone pilots, recording each pilot’s purpose and credentials to help manage airspace. They gather details on participating off-duty officers to prevent confusion during an emergency. Each solution reduces radio chatter while maintaining security protocols.
The real-time awareness also aids response to the typical calls for service that come during large events, including finding missing children, investigating suspicious items or individuals, and responding to medical emergencies such as cardiac and seizure incidents.
Master Sergeant Kevin Long, GIS specialist, coordinates event operations from Oklahoma City's command center with marathon route maps displayed behind him. His team’s digital mapping systems replaced “banker boxes full of 80-page incident action plans.”
Emergency management dashboard on wall monitor showing map with incident markers, call statistics, and active user counts for coordination.
A dashboard displays real-time emergency medical calls during Oklahoma City events. The system tracks completed calls, active users, and incident locations, integrating with police GIS systems to coordinate comprehensive emergency response coverage.
Oklahoma City National Memorial Gates of Time structure showing "9:01" with reflecting pool and church in background under blue sky.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum’s Gates of Time, marking 9:01 and 9:03—the moments before and after the bombing. This site provided the backdrop for an iconic Thunder parade photo symbolizing the city's resilience and renewal.
Leadership Approaches and Lessons Learned
During the parade, GIS tools helped police officers keep the peace so the city’s championship athletes could celebrate alongside their fans. One moment stood out, captured in an iconic photograph, which shows the Thunder team bus with the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum directly behind it. On top of the bus, Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stands with his back to the camera, arms spread wide in triumph and perfectly framing one of the memorial’s “Gates of Time.”
The image represents Oklahoma City’s evolution over three decades. And George’s career trajectory—from joining the force after the city’s tragedy to managing major celebrations—has paralleled the city’s development of robust public safety capabilities.
The parade progressed without major incidents. The crowd, while massive, remained manageable. The smooth execution reflected methodical planning and systematic coordination—every officer, emergency responder, and volunteer working within the plan. Where similar-sized events in other cities often generate arrests, injuries, or property damage, Oklahoma City’s celebration remained largely incident-free.
The parade concluded at Scissortail Park, its success demonstrating Oklahoma City’s ability to handle large-scale events. As crowds dispersed and cleanup began, George reviewed the operation’s success and identified areas for improvement.
In 2028, the Olympics will bring international attention to Oklahoma City for canoe slalom and softball competitions. The Olympics will require scaling to accommodate international coordination protocols, multiagency data sharing, and extended operational timelines. The infrastructure developed, systems tested, and experience gained by the police department will provide a foundation for managing that global event.
Learn how public safety agency staff use GIS to plan, prepare, and manage operations during an event to protect participants and attendees.
How Oklahoma City Transformed Its Event Management
Master Seargeant Kevin Long outlines the steps Oklahoma City Police have taken and the advice he now gives other law enforcement agencies.
Step 1: Address the Core Need
In coordinating the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, SPEER faced a basic question: How do you track 120 officers across 26 miles? “You either have to drive all 26 miles or look on a map to see if they’re there,” Long notes. GIS-based situational awareness solved this immediately, reducing route checks from 20 times per day to 4 or 5.
Step 2: Leverage Existing Resources
Oklahoma City integrates all critical data onto one map, including route information from the city’s enterprise GIS, and collaborates with regional medical response teams. “We just pulled that collaboration right over,” Long said. “All those layers that were pertinent to the event are there for everybody to see.”
Step 3: Scale to Meet Demands
Oklahoma City Police upgraded their servers to support real-time computing. The need to scale applies to personnel as well. For the championship parade, they needed ten times more personnel than is required for a marathon. With 1,200 personnel, they reinforced their IT infrastructure to achieve reliable performance even when 520,000 people overwhelmed the cellular network.
Step 4: Template Everything
Prebuilt GIS reports and forms enable rapid deployment and instant updates. Instead of printing “banker boxes full of 80-page incident action plans,” updates happen digitally. Oklahoma City created templates to reduce radio traffic while maintaining evidence trails.
Step 5: Maximize Communication Features
Crystal clear communication via GIS tools proves crucial. “I can put a pin right on a location, draw a box around it, and send a map right to them showing where they need to go,” Long said. “There’s no confusion.”