Kansas City company transformed its South Kansas City headquarters into a large-scale operations center supporting local, state, national and federal public safety, transportation, and communications personnel through Haystax and Truman.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As Kansas City concluded its standout run as a FIFA World Cup 26™ host city, Secure Passage played a pivotal behind-the scenes role in supporting the public safety and security mission surrounding one of the world’s largest sporting events.
Working in cooperation with KC2026 and public safety leaders, Secure Passage transformed its South Kansas City headquarters into the Joint Operations Center (JOC), a secure, purpose-built operational environment where local, regional, state, national and federal public safety and security, transportation and information personnel worked side by side.
The JOC provided a centralized environment for coordination, information sharing, situational awareness and rapid decision-making throughout Kansas City’s World Cup operations.
For Secure Passage, a Kansas City-based company, the mission was also deeply personal. “This wasn’t a conference room with extra screens,” said Gary Fish, chairman and CEO of Secure Passage. “We transformed our headquarters into a fully operational security environment where hundreds of public safety and event personnel from dozens of organizations moved through the facility with speed, security and clarity. Our team stood shoulder to shoulder with public safety professionals and event partners through long nights and high-pressure days because that’s what it takes to deliver at this scale in our hometown.”
Secure Passage brought years of experience supporting complex, high-profile sporting events and large public gatherings to the World Cup mission, building on its experience supporting Super Bowl operations and some of the nation’s biggest moments.
“We understood the scale, the crowds, the long hours and the level of coordination required,” Fish said. “Kansas City knows how to show up for big events. Our job was to help create an environment where the people responsible for safety and security had the technology, information and operational support they needed to execute.”
Truman and Haystax: Connecting Identity, Facilities and Operations
Secure Passage’s Truman Operational Intelligence Platform and Haystax situational awareness technology formed a critical part of the operational environment supporting the JOC.
Haystax served as the unifying operational intelligence and situational awareness platform used by the multi-agency teams. It provided the common operating picture — real-time insight into what was happening across the operation — so personnel from local, state, federal and event organizations could see the same information and coordinate informed responses. In many ways, Haystax was the digital extension of the physical collaboration happening inside the Joint Operations Center.
Truman, Secure Passage’s newer Operational Intelligence Platform, secured the facility itself. It supported large-scale visitor management, identity tracking and check-in for hundreds of public safety, government, security and operational personnel moving through the building. Truman delivered real-time visibility into who was in the facility, when they arrived, where they were authorized to be, and the organizations they represented — connecting identity and physical security into the broader operational environment.
Together, the platforms allowed teams to focus on the mission rather than disconnected systems.
“The World Cup was exactly the kind of complex, high-stakes environment these platforms were built for,” said Gary Fish. “Haystax gave the teams a shared, real-time view of the operation. Truman gave us a precise understanding of who was in the facility and how that identity connected to the broader security picture. Together they helped create an environment where people from every level of government could work as one.”
A Team of Teams
The Kansas City JOC brought together personnel, leadership and operational information from numerous public safety, security and government organizations.
Local and regional agencies worked alongside state, national and federal public safety personnel in a highly collaborative environment focused on a shared mission.
“The scale and complexity of hosting the FIFA World Cup required an extraordinary level of coordination, technology and operational support,” said Lindsey Douglas, Chief Operations Officer for KC2026. “Secure Passage was an exceptional partner throughout this effort. Their team brought deep security and facility operational expertise, worked side by side with our public safety partners, and demonstrated strong commitment to the mission. The technology Secure Passage brought through Haystax and Truman gave the JOC capabilities and operational visibility that would have been extremely difficult to achieve through traditional systems alone. What Secure Passage built at its South Kansas City headquarters was truly impressive and became a critical part of our overall operation.”
Andrew Giuliani, Executive Director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026, highlighted the broader national significance of the partnership: “One of the great success stories of the FIFA World Cup has been the incredible teamwork behind the scenes and the partnerships we formed. Secure Passage helped bring together the people, technology, and coordination that allowed first responders and public safety professionals to do what they do best. Their work in Kansas City’s Joint Operations Center helped demonstrate how strong public-private partnerships can deliver a safe, secure, and world-class experience for millions of fans.”
The purpose-built environment at Secure Passage’s headquarters provided shared situational awareness while allowing participating organizations to continue operations within their existing missions, authorities and technology infrastructures. It was a model built around collaboration rather than replacing the systems, processes or authorities of participating organizations.
“Kansas City showed the world what this community is capable of,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. “Hosting an event of this scale requires collaboration across government, public safety, the private sector, and the entire community. What we accomplished together demonstrated that Kansas City is ready to compete for—and successfully host—the world’s biggest events.””This was bigger than the World Cup,” Fish said. “Kansas City proved on a global stage that it is a world-class host city capable of supporting events of extraordinary scale and complexity. We didn’t just host the world. I believe we changed some perceptions about what a city in the heart of America can deliver.”
“The region welcomed the world with genuine Kansas City hospitality, but behind that hospitality was an extraordinary amount of planning, coordination and execution,” Fish continued. “Our public safety agencies, civic leaders and private-sector partners showed that Kansas City has the people, infrastructure and operational capability to do this again and do it at scale. We proved Kansas City is ready for the next major global event.”
The successful World Cup operation and collaborative JOC model provide a blueprint that can be applied to future major events requiring coordination across public safety, government and private-sector organizations. The same technology and architecture are being deployed across cities, major events, critical infrastructure, corporate campuses, data centers and government operations.
For Secure Passage, the Kansas City operation represented a real-world deployment of the company’s vision for the future of physical security and public safety: One Platform. Every Mission.
People at the Center of the Mission
While technology played a critical role, Kirk Cerny, President of Secure Passage, said the success of the mission ultimately came down to people. “We couldn’t be more proud of the Secure Passage team and the way we worked alongside public safety professionals from every level of government,” Cerny said. “Our people worked incredibly long hours, nights and weekends to transform our headquarters into a true joint operations environment. They stood shoulder to shoulder with partners from across the city, state and nation because that’s what it takes to deliver at this scale in our hometown.” “Technology matters, but it’s the people — all the teams working together as one — who make missions like this successful,” Cerny added. “Everyone involved never lost sight of the fact that this was Kansas City on the world stage. We showed up for our city, we showed up for the mission and we delivered together.”
About Secure Passage
Secure Passage is a Kansas City-based operational intelligence company transforming how organizations understand and protect the physical world through unified technology and trusted partnerships. Its Haystax platform delivers operational intelligence and situational awareness for complex government, public safety and enterprise missions. Its Truman Operational Intelligence Platform connects existing security, identity, sensor and operational systems into a single control plane designed to understand, correlate and act in real time.
The successful deployment of Haystax and Truman during Kansas City’s FIFA World Cup 26™ operations proved the power of integrated technology and public-private collaboration at global scale. As cities and organizations prepare for the next generation of major events and critical operations, Secure Passage stands ready to partner with forward-thinking teams who want to build safer, smarter, and more connected environments. One Platform. Every Mission.
Media Contact
Secure Passage
Kansas City, Missouri
Kelly Cerny
kelly.cerny@securepassage.ai
877-442-4553
www.securepassage.ai
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