Something in the Water DC: Police, private security firms prep for music festival

WASHINGTON - With Pharrell’s Something in the Water Music Festival less than one week away, there’s a lot of excitement about the star-studded lineup, however, there’s also some concern about safety.   

FOX 5 spoke exclusively to one of the private security firms that will work alongside law enforcement at the event.  

Derrick Parks, president, and CEO of Metropolitan Protective Services, said their focus along with several other security companies is going to be everything inside the fence where the festival is happening, and law enforcement will handle the areas outside the premises 

Parks said there will be several entry and exit points — all of them heavily monitored.  

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"We’re providing a support role," Parks said. "The prime contractor is LGC Security." 

Parks told FOX 5 that his firm is providing about 150 officers to support the roughly 1,000 policemen providing security, which he says is necessary for this type of event.  

"The city hasn’t seen a show or event of this magnitude," Parks said. "We look at every threat that could be plausible in these types of events where you have close to 75,000 people in one area, and we’re in the nation’s capital."  

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He says recent deadly incidents at concerts and other mass shootings have been a topic of discussion during security briefings.   

"We have to take all those things into consideration when we deploy or be a part of a security plan. The primary contractor has brought together a good group of individuals to look at it from all angles and each company has a unique background." 

Parks added he does expect a lot of hurdles to create a safe environment, but he believes the plan they have in place will keep everyone safe.  

"These individuals who are responsible for the actual show have in my opinion, exceeded what most concerts I’ve seen that has the same kind of caliber to get things done. If they say ‘hey, we think one officer would be great here,' they’ll say ‘hey let’s be safe and go with two.’ So, I think they've really taken security to another level as it relates to the safety of this event." 

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Parks says Metropolitan Protective Services is hiring more security officers ahead of the festival.  

He says the deadline to apply is Wednesday.  

For more information on applying visit their official website Metro-protect.com.