2026 Pittsburgh
NFL Draft
Pittsburgh will draw law enforcement officers from the state, other municipalities and several federal agencies during the NFL Draft — though city officials would not say how many. At a Friday news conference they said there would be enough help on hand to ensure neighborhoods far from the draft will see no shortage in service from city police, fire and EMS.
The draft is expected to bring more than half a million people to the city’s core April 23 through 25, testing hotel, transit and entertainment infrastructure while possibly bringing a windfall in business and tax revenue.
“There’s no way that Pittsburgh could ever take this huge undertaking by itself,” said Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams, who has been in that job since January.
Outside agencies assisting
Pittsburgh police Chief of Staff Anthony Palermo said federal law enforcement agents working the event would come from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Coast Guard.
City Council passed a bill in March authorizing the city to enter cooperative agreements with the sheriff of each neighboring county, as well as the Transportation Security Administration and the police departments of Allegheny County, the Northern Regional suburbs, Center Township, Pitcairn, the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams, flanked by law enforcement and emergency response officials, speaks during a press conference ahead of the NFL Draft at Point State Park on April 10. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Richard Evanchec, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, said the bureau will have “hundreds” of agents and analysts across the region during the draft. He said the FBI is “not aware of any credible threat” of terrorism or violence targeting the draft.
City police, fire and EMS officials said their normal operations would not be curtailed by draft duty.
“We’ve taken deliberate steps to ensure this event is supported without disrupting normal emergency and public safety services,” said Assistant Chief of EMS Jennifer McDermott-Grubb. “Day-to-day operations will be fully supported, and all event-related staffing will be in addition to regular citywide coverage.”
Mat Davis, the assistant fire chief, said the bureau will be vigilant in ensuring code compliance for any temporary structures put up in and around the draft site.
City will lead ‘collective’ decisions
Though powerful entities like the FBI, Coast Guard and the NFL will have their hands in security operations throughout the draft, city officials said Friday that the city will ultimately be in charge, “in coordination with the NFL.”
The city will use a unified command structure in which leaders from the police, fire and EMS bureaus will make “collective” decisions, Palermo said. Those bureaus ultimately report to Williams and Mayor Corey O’Connor.
Adam Ameel, the city’s deputy emergency management coordinator, said the city underwent tabletop exercises for potential severe weather and “mass care” events, and the city will operate an emergency operations center throughout the draft.
While severe weather is not currently in the forecast, he said the city has identified shelters to accommodate the massive crowds on the North Shore and Downtown if necessary.
He said river flooding is not expected — a crucial detail, considering the draft’s sites in the North Shore and Point State Park are among the first areas in the city to take on water during flooding.
Homeless, public health services stepped up
Laura Drogowski, leader of the city’s Office of Community Health and Safety, said there will be expanded crisis response hours and homeless services outreach in the North Side and Downtown given the expected influx of people in the area. She said services in other parts of the city will be normal.
“We are grateful to those who continually advocate for equitable care and for all of our neighbors, and we will not waver in our mission to do so,” Drogowski said.
Leave boats and drones at home
The Coast Guard announced this week that the three rivers will be closed to recreational traffic near Downtown during the draft for security and safety reasons. Evanchec also said Friday that the airspace over Point State Park and the North Shore will be closed to recreational drones, and violators will be “dealt with swiftly.”
Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
RELATED STORIES
This story was made possible by donations to our independent, nonprofit newsroom.
Can you help us keep going with a gift?
We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source. Since 2011, we’ve taken pride in serving our community by delivering accurate, timely, and impactful journalism — without paywalls. We believe that everyone deserves access to information about local decisions and events that affect them.
But it takes a lot of resources to produce this reporting, from compensating our staff, to the technology that brings it to you, to fact-checking every line, and much more. Reader support is crucial to our ability to keep doing this work.
If you learned something new from this story, consider supporting us with a donation today. Your donation helps ensure that everyone in Allegheny County can stay informed about issues that impact their lives. Thank you for your support!
MOST READ STORIES
Republish This Story
Creative Commons License
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.