Security of Mass Events Based on the Example of a Football Match

The paper presents the complexity of issues related to the security of mass events based on social research and statisticaldata obtained from the Police about protected football matches in Poland during the period from 2010 to 2014. The issueof the security of this type of event is considered knowing that the delinquency of football hooligans is not limited to stadiumsbut also occurs in the areas adjacent to the sports facilities. Over the years, there has been no accepted, unambiguous definitionof stadium crime which, by implication, confirms that there are significant challenges facing scientists dealing with the phenomenonof the subculture of football hooligans. In the paper, in search of effective methods to prevent stadium crime, the role of the policemansupporter, the so-called “spotter”, is described. According to the authors, it was a good idea to introduce a police officer into the fans’environment. It must be remembered that in practice, due to the fact that stadium crime is the domain of crime groups operatingwithin a specific subculture, the explicit penetration of these environments is a very difficult process. Hence the institution of spottercan fulfil its task by educating children and young people, who are impervious to the influences of hooligan structures.