KC World Cup organizers run full-scale emergency drill: ‘We will be ready’
Hundreds of law enforcement officers, first responders and emergency-management partners — along with actors, observers and evaluators — gathered Tuesday morning at the National World War I Museum and Memorial to rehearse how Kansas City would respond to a major incident during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Fan Festival.
“As World Cup host cities go, we will be the most prepared,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said at a news conference before the exercise at the base of the Liberty Memorial Tower. “We will be ready.”
Local and regional agencies have been building security and emergency-response plans since Kansas City was selected as a host, pulling in agencies from across the metro and beyond to prepare for the crowds.
The Kansas City Police Department has assigned full-time staff members to plan for all aspects of the World Cup, and regional cooperation has been key from the start, with committees that include public safety leaders as well as non-governmental groups, said Police Chief Stacey Graves.
Graves said planning teams have been working on everything from intelligence sharing and communications to protecting critical infrastructure and tactical response, applying lessons from other large events to create layered security with expanded perimeters, vehicle screening and added transportation security.
The extensive training included some members traveling abroad to observe matches as well as tabletop and full-scale exercises to “test and retest” their plans, with Tuesday’s drill serving as one of those tests ahead of the fan festival.
“Responses and readiness exercises like today’s will give us the ability to test our connections and communications with a wide variety of public safety officials throughout our region and beyond,” Graves said.
Graves said the response will include agencies visible on the ground and others providing behind-the-scenes resources. She said regional command, emergency operations and joint operations centers will coordinate with agencies in Kansas City and communicate with the 11 other host cities.
Kansas City wouldn’t be able to host World Cup matches and related events without coordination across the region at the city, state and federal levels, said Lindsey Douglas, chief operations officer of KC2026, the organization leading Kansas City’s host-city planning.
“We’re here to work together today and really test all of those plans,” Douglas said.
More than 200 people were participating in the drill, including actors and players, as well as observers and evaluators, Douglas said. Evaluators were walking around seeing if there were any gaps and making sure the plans were being implemented as intended.
The drill, which was to end round noon, was the only full-scale exercise planned before the World Cup, but organizers will continue tabletop exercises and hold additional meetings to review what they observed Tuesday.
“We will be ready and prepared,” Douglas said. “And we want everybody to come here and experience it and know that themselves, their families, are all safe to attend and to enjoy the events.”
