Veteran Public Safety Official Michael Bates to Fill Senior Position at Hulman Motorsports
"Keeping everyone safe and ensuring a worry-free trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all Verizon IndyCar Series venues will always be mission critical," said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Company, the parent of IMS and the Verizon IndyCar Series. "Mike has been an outstanding leader of safety and security efforts for every major event Indianapolis has thrown in recent years, including the Super Bowl. He knows what it takes to develop and execute a world-class public safety plan at high-profile venues and he is the right individual to take on this responsibility for us."
"I'm honored to join the team at Hulman Motorsports and work on behalf of racing fans from across the country and globe who see the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other INDYCAR venues as second homes," Bates said. "No one hosts major sporting events better than the city of Indianapolis and I'm proud to say our safety and security planning is a major contributor to our stellar reputation. I plan to take the lessons I've learned and the relationships I've built throughout my public safety career and put them to good use in this new role."
Bates has served as deputy chief at IMPD since 2010, leading more than 250 sworn officers and 20 civilian employees within the Homeland Security division. In that time, he has coordinated IMPD and inter-agency safety and security efforts for all large events in the city. Units under his supervision have been charged with monitoring terror threats, protecting visiting dignitaries, analyzing traffic patterns and flow and tracking aviation activities. Bates began his career as an officer patrolling the city's West District and worked his way up to sergeant, lieutenant, captain, commander and finally deputy chief in his nearly 30-year law enforcement tenure.
In his new role at Hulman Motorsports, Bates will be responsible for developing, refining and implementing IMS and INDYCAR safety and security plans. At IMS, he will be responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of public safety and security, emergency preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation plans, exercises, procedures and staff programs. At INDYCAR, he will be responsible for defining policies, procedures and best practices for public safety, security and emergency preparedness for the Verizon IndyCar Series races, then implementing and executing plans in cooperation with race promoters and track venues.