Law Enforcement Cracks Down On Crime At U.S. Senior Open In Edmond

The U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree National teed off Friday in Edmond, and police are keeping a close eye on the large crowd. Officers from several agencies are watching for anything suspicious.

“Just today alone, we have 113 law enforcement, first responders and medical staff out here,” said Jenny Monroe with Edmond Police. “We have eyes and ears pretty much all over this course.”

Edmond police prepared for the tournament for years and have additional police support from Oklahoma City, Norman, Moore and Midwest City, as well as the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

“Obviously we are always looking for any kind of person who doesn't seem to be doing what they're supposed to be doing or doesn't seem to be in an area they are supposed to be in,” said Edmond Police Sgt. Acey Hopper.

Police patrol the grounds as well as work crowd and traffic control.

“We are just making sure the patrons, who come, stay on the golf course and don't wander into yards,” said Sgt. Hopper.

Spectators are not allowed to bring bags into the tournament, so there are fewer calls for suspicious packages.

“We've only had one of those calls this whole week and it was a medical bag, it was one of our bags that was left unattended,” explained Monroe.

With so many agencies represented, the state incident management team is using the big event as a training exercise for emergency responders and dispatchers across the state.

They have a complete command center set up in an undisclosed location at the golf course. They’ve already brought in 31 trainees.

“Because it's not a crisis, so we get to fine tune some areas, whose roles and what they are and get comfortable with that when it's not a crisis situation like a wildfire,” added Monroe.

The Senior Open wraps up on Sunday.