The I-Team is looking into how Lollapalooza attendees are protected in a volatile threat environment.

The I-Team is looking into how Lollapalooza attendees are protected in a volatile threat environment.

The I-Team is looking into how Lollapalooza attendees are protected in a volatile threat environment.

The I-Team is looking into how Lollapalooza attendees are protected in a volatile threat environment.

CHICAGO (WLS) — Lollapalooza is one of the premier music festivals in the world, just steps from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, making it a potential soft target for violent actors.

That’s according to former high-ranking law enforcement officers who spoke with the I-Team. They say Chicago police and federal officials work together to protect concertgoers in a volatile national threat environment.

As throngs of people flock to Grant Park for four days of music festival frivolity, former law enforcement officers tell the I-Team there is nothing frivolous about the preparations made to protect the public.

“Unfortunately, large events are always going to be the target of bad actors,” said Derek Mayer, ABC7 Chicago law enforcement expert and former deputy special agent in charge of the Chicago Secret Service Field Office.

He says a large-scale event like this requires unmatched cooperation between local and federal partners.

SEE ALSO: Street closures for Lollapalooza 2025 underway around Chicago’s Grant Park | See list

“There’s a unified command that’s going to have Chicago PD. It’s going to have the FBI; it’s going to have every law enforcement entity in the city come together in this unified command post. So, if an incident does happen, all the decision-makers are in the same room,” Mayer said.

ABC7 police affairs consultant Bill Kushner says bombs planted beforehand are of particular concern to law enforcement for an event like this.

“I’m sure that the grounds have been swept overnight, or even this morning by CPD bomb dogs, or ATF bomb dogs even to ensure that there’s nothing but planted on the grounds anywhere. There’s going to be metal detectors. There’s going to be screening for weapons coming in. All the bags are going to be searched. So, the odds of someone carrying in an improvised explosive device in a bag are slim and none,” Kushner said.

The possibility of using vehicles as weapons against crowds is another concern.

RELATED: Lolla 2025 kicks off in Grant Park Thursday with Tyler the Creator, Luke Combs headlining

“There’s going to be portable barricades. There might be trucks loaded with sand blocking roadways. You’ve got barricades on the sidewalks to prevent vehicles from driving down the sidewalks into crowds,” Kushner told the I-Team.

There are also plainclothes officers on the grounds and hundreds of cameras, some permanent, some stood up just for the event, allowing authorities to view the concert venue in a grid system.

“You know, one camera is probably worth 50 coppers, 50 police officers, because you can scan a larger area at a quicker amount of time,” Kushner said.

Other protective assets hovering above are expected to monitor the crowd along with flood lights available to blind potential snipers.

“In any major event, local law enforcement, state law enforcement is going to use aerial assets to include helicopters, drones,” Mayer told the I-Team.

Authorities are taking into consideration current risks, after a tumultuous seven months and a history of high-powered weapons found in hotels surrounding high-profile music venues.

SEE ALSO: Lollapalooza 2025 live streaming exclusively on Hulu with front-row access

“It’s not a matter of just taking the cookie cutter plan that we used last year, the year before, the year before that and just doing it again. You have to evaluate the threat environment,” Kushner said.

The experts say it’s the partnership they have seen first-hand that will help ensure the safety of Lolla attendees.

“We make the public safer by having that relationship,” Kushner said.

Chicago police would not speak on camera about the specifics of deployment with their manpower and assets in their Lolla safety plan, but said in a statement to the I-Team in part: “In advance of the festival, we participate in planning exercises alongside festival organizers and our City of Chicago partners.”

They said they will have additional officers inside and outside the event to keep people safe.