Cedar Point new security checkpoint

redsfan said:

... they are outsourced makes me wonder if they picked a good company to provide this service. If it's not being done during all hours of operation.

The park likely determines when Security Theater will be enacted. Since the purpose of Security Theater is to present the appearance of safety, it's not necessary to actually ensure anyone's safety.

Ensuring safety would involve searching the person and belongings of every guest, employee, vendor, contractor, delivery person, UPS/Fed Ex driver, state regulatory inspector -- in other words, every single person that steps foot on park grounds. And all that, after determining that the persons doing all that searching are not themselves security risks.

MichaelB said:
Boo hoo... I will be sending you a box of tampons.

Ooh, you're such a big, tough sheep!

I don't throw a piss fit because 5-10 minutes of my day is "wasted" by a security checkpoint.

It has nothing to do with time, and everything to do with the attitude that pointless security theater is something we should all just accept. Worse than blindly accepting it is talking down to those who won't blindly accept it.

Also, you sound like a sexist high school jackass with the tampons comment.

Locking your car is "Security Theater"

CP Maverick said:

Locking your car is "Security Theater"

No it's not. Criminals want an easy target. They'll just move on to the car that isn't locked.

If you have nothing in the car of value but you lock it remotely as you walk away so that it makes the stupid noise and the lights flash so that everyone can see that you've locked your car when you're only going to be ten feet away from it and it is in full view then it is security theatre. If you're leaving it unattended and don't want anyone snooping through it then it's a deterrent. As mentioned unless they know you have something they want they will move on to another car. Personally I leave mine unlocked a lot because there isn't much in it to steal. If anything I'm more worried about people messing with it just to be an a$$ than theft.

Walt said:

CP Maverick said:

Locking your car is "Security Theater"

No it's not. Criminals want an easy target. They'll just move on to the car that isn't locked.

If someone wants to get into your car, they will. Locking is a deterrent the lazy "criminals" just like wanding. If they want to get in, they will.

I always lock my car, no matter what. The locked doors, alarm system and engine immobilizer are active teft deterrents, much more than security theater in my opinion.

I decide whether or not to lock based on where it's parked, how long it will be there and whether or not I have anything in it. Some days I feel I would rather someone open the door and steal my change and see there's nothing more to take than have them bust my window out to find out I had nothing there to steal. Replacement parts for a 30 year old car are getting hard to find.

Locking your car serves a legitimate function: it makes it more difficult to steal the car or any belongings you have in the car. Sure: if someone really, really wants to break into your car, they will. But car thieves are by and large a pragmatic lot. They want an easy theft.

Security checkpoints at amusement parks and other public venues serve no legitimate security function.

By and large, the folks manning the security checkpoints aren't police officers or trained security personnel. Like theTSA staff you encounter in the security checkpoint at the airport, they're men and women wearing security costumes who have no legal authority to detain or arrest you, performing the job they've been trained to do.

I actually went fairly far through the application process to be a TSA screener. One step of the process involved a series of tests and exams administered not by HR professionals but by TSA screeners rotated into the application process for a week. I easily distracted one with a conversation about Blue Man Group -- she passed me on to the next step without question. They are very nice folks, I'm sure, but they do nothing to protect us.

And using a wand makes it harder to carry a concealed large knife or firearm into the park... Two can play this game.

Security is partially a psychological game, that's why it is usually someone with a mental sickness that has no regard for norms of society that commits heinous crimes.

TSA, with billions of dollars in resources at hand, has yet to uncover a concealed large knife or firearm getting onto a plane. Why expect low-paid amusement park staffers wearing security costumes, with zero legal authority to arrest or detain a person with a concealed weapon, to have any effect on securing our security in a park?

I have watched at many parks as a person in a wheel chair --and large bags on the chair-- are not checked for contraband, but the person who is pushing them is put thru the routine, including looking in a small clutch purse. Anyone who wants to get an item thru will exploit weaknesses such as these. What form of security a park needs is partly dependent on the type of incidents they encounter. For instance, many in amusement park shooting incidents were premeditated public suicides (in which case they will work to get past security [for example, the shooting last spring at Universal Studios]), or were drug related (a drug dog would most likely have been an effective deterrent [for example, the 2003 shooting at Canada's Wonderland]). If someone wanted to do a mass shooting, they probably not even take the front gate. Perimeter security is set up after all to catch people trying not to pay.

Anyone have any idea how Cedar Point compares with other parks in the crime/incidents deprtment?

MichaelB said:

Security is partially a psychological game, that's why it is usually someone with a mental sickness that has no regard for norms of society that commits heinous crimes.

Let me google that for you...

Mental Illness Not Usually Linked to Crime, Research Finds

In fact, research suggests that this public perception does not reflect reality.

Facts About Mental Illness and Violence

Myth vs. Fact: Violence and Mental Health

Violence and mental illness: an overview

The Myth of Mental Illness and Violence

Yeah, mental illness is a terrible talking point. I hate that it's become the new norm.

That said, as annoying as these bag checks and wandings are, CP *is* private property and there isn't much I can do about it besides avoid going - which I'm not annoyed enough to do, so. It is what it is, for me.

Did you let the park know your opinion of the checkpoints? I emailed the park about it. If they get enough complaints, they might go away.

Honestly, it doesn't even bother me enough that I would take the time to do that. I go to enough concerts that I'm used to it, so I barely even notice it.

What's even stranger is the apparent haphazard manner in which this safety game is being played. In all our visits this year not once did we encounter it.

So every once in awhile we'll pretend to play a game that pretends to make you feel safe.

That's just a waste of time, money, and resources for everyone involved.