Safety You Can See: 35 Years of Dealing with Discomfort and Disaster
August 17th, 2026
As first responders, A&O Troopers have always served on the front line of public safety, responding to a wide range of emergencies. Mud and floods. Wind and dust. Lightning and downpours. Snow, sleet, rain, hail, and sky-high summer heat. Bomb threats, thievery, breached perimeters, and unruly mobs. It’s all in a day’s work for the riders and their highly trained horses.
Deterring Trouble with Planning and Professionalism
From the early days, A&O has promoted a platform of visibility equals deterrence. Along with that philosophy, the company believes in early and extensive planning for many potential emergencies. Troopers are trained to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement, taking note of conditions that might lead to bigger trouble.
Some emergencies Troopers have dealt with include bomb threats, mob behavior, firearm detection, VIP protection, safe event ingress and egress, communication with local law enforcement, and securing a perimeter. In the early years of shopping mall patrols, Troopers learned the advantage of their height—up to 10 feet atop their horses. They can see over shrubbery, cars, barricades, people, signs, fences, and other obstacles, enabling them to spot trouble brewing. This early promotional photo told a compelling story to potential clients about the advantage of a mounted officer.
From 1991 to 1997, Alpha & Omega signed some 30 malls as clients, and their presence made big news. Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas made the move in 1997 to add mounted riders to what it described as its mobile security force. This photo shows the advantage of a security officer who can patrol parking lots and garages with a wide view of the surroundings.
Some emergencies Troopers have faced at malls include fleeing shoplifters, inappropriate mob behavior, teen stunts, missing children, kids and pets in locked cars, medical emergencies involving seniors or shoppers with physical challenges, traffic accidents, stalled cars, and clearing paths for emergency vehicles.
Big Challenges Met by a Fledgling Company
The novelty of mounted patrol officers, plus the verifiable results of lowered crime rates, soon allowed A&O to expand from malls to festivals, arenas, amphitheaters, stadiums, and massive world sporting events. In 1994, A&O was privileged to participate in a leg of the FIFA World Cup in Dallas, Texas.
Soccer in the United States had not always been on the same level as other professional sports, often trailing behind baseball, basketball, and football.
The first time the U.S. hosted soccer on a truly global scale came during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, when 52 matches were played across nine venues nationwide.
Among those match sites was Cotton Bowl Stadium, the historic Dallas venue that opened in 1930 and hosted six World Cup games in Texas. The stakes were enormous: produce a safe, disaster-free event while the world watched. Preplanning was the ticket to accomplishing this and was, from the beginning, an A&O strong point. A&O personnel met with emergency planners from federal, state, and local law enforcement months ahead to anticipate and plan for emergencies. At the time of the event, soccer fans had built a reputation for being rowdy, unruly, hostile to rivals, and often disrespectful of property.
Advanced planning and close cooperation between security entities resulted in a safe and entertaining event for players and spectators. This case study is still included in our client list with pride as an illustration of avoiding disaster rather than allowing it to endanger the public.
To mitigate other dangers, A&O has offered many additional services over the years. Beginning in 2009, our Counterfeit Squad was very active in preventing theft through the sale of fake merchandise and bogus wristbands. In 2015, we turned to social media monitoring to find where fans were scaling perimeter fences for free admittance. We also stepped up our work confiscating firearms, drugs, and other illegal items before they could be brought onto festival grounds.
Harvey Howls into The Woodlands
One of the biggest weather emergencies in A&O history came howling into The Woodlands near Houston with Hurricane Harvey, August 25–29, 2017. The widespread and catastrophic effects of this Category 4 storm resulted in one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history.
At noon on August 25, with the earliest warnings of the storm, Troopers were dispatched to their homes, farms, and ranches to secure their animals and property. All riders were contacted to see who could come on duty. Some who were already on duty stayed. Others who came in faced flooded roads, downed trees, traffic jams, and other hazards.
As soon as federal emergency managers gave the okay, Troopers were back on The Woodlands property. They directed traffic, called in other first responders as needed, relayed instructions to people on the property, monitored lines at gas stations, provided escorts for emergency vehicles, and performed other duties as called upon.
During all this, staff personnel were assessing the damage to the “Rough House,” the A&O regional headquarters in nearby Conroe. Massive damage from uprooted trees, gale-force winds, and water left wreckage that would take weeks to repair. Even with office equipment down, temporary Trooper living quarters ruined, and horse stalls and hay destroyed, riders stayed on the job throughout the recovery period.
Blowing in the Wind
Along with hurricane gusts, wind wreaks havoc when it arrives with the legendary Texas dust storms. Troopers got an eye, ear, and mouthful of the gritty stuff at the Texas Eclipse Festival in April 2024 at Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, Texas. Sky gazers from across the state staked out their spots to watch the total solar eclipse, with Texas positioned perfectly in the path of totality stretching 115 miles wide from Mexico to Newfoundland.
The uncomfortable dustup didn’t ruin the fans’ enthusiasm or block their view of the eclipse. Troopers and fans alike donned the requisite bandanas for protection. Festivalgoers experienced more than four minutes of totality in the picturesque landscape of Reveille Peak Ranch, free from light pollution and safe with Troopers on the job.
Since 2009, Troopers have patrolled Coachella and Stagecoach, as well as Desert Trip in 2016. All are staged on the Empire Polo Grounds in the high desert of California. While traffic from pedestrians and cars always stirs up dust, some years have also brought winds reaching hurricane force, contributing to uncomfortable festival conditions.
In 2022, a powerful dust storm disrupted the first weekend of Coachella as blustery winds swept over the grounds with a whirlwind of desert sand. Tents took off, fans took cover, and some acts were postponed. Several of these occurrences over the years have earned Coachella the moniker “Dustchella.”
High temperatures sometimes add to the challenge. Proper gear for horses and riders helps Troopers stay ready to keep fans safe. Support trucks also make frequent stops to hydrate both Troopers and their horses.
Music to My Mud-Caked Ears
Festival work brings its own special challenges, and over the years, A&O has met them all. Inclement weather is the number one emergency for outdoor festivals that attract up to 100,000 fans camping in open fields. Frank Keller, founder and CEO of Alpha & Omega, has consistently trained with weather experts on identifying weather threats and taking the appropriate action for each one.
Keller is a graduate of the International Association of Venue Managers’ inaugural Academy for Venue Safety & Security. He completed training in handling severe weather emergencies at large-scale events at the first IAVM weather seminar and is certified as a NOAA National Weather Service SKYWARN Storm Spotter.
He uses “tabletop” training discussions before every festival to imagine various weather patterns and the appropriate responses. Every written security plan includes a comprehensive Emergency Weather Evacuation Protocol that has been adapted and fine-tuned over 35 years of facing every kind of weather situation.
In June 2021, the entire Bonnaroo Music Festival was canceled days before it was scheduled to begin due to severe flooding and waterlogged grounds caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. But sometimes the show does go on, and Troopers patrol soggy grounds when events resume after rain or lightning breaks.
Search online for fans’ worst weather experiences and you get a list of shows where A&O provided public safety for fans in deplorable conditions: Woodstock ’94, Phish Coventry 2004, Bonnaroo 2004—the list goes on. For the most part, if weather authorities allow the festival to resume, fans take the conditions in stride, and the experience becomes part of their most cherished memories.
It’s part of our most memorable times, too. These challenges have helped us expand our capabilities and develop our confidence. After every event throughout our history, an after-action report details what happened, what worked, and what we can do better. This 35-year record of institutional knowledge keeps us prepared for the future, whatever it may bring.
