Cedar Point new security checkpoint
These kids are just doing their jobs. If they are required to wand everyone, just get wanded. It takes them literally 5 seconds. If and when something gets by them, guess who's getting blamed and fired?
I expect and plan for metal detectors at concerts, major sporting events, most amusement parks, etc. Not sure whey anyone should raise a fuss about it. It's for everyone's protection.
What irritates me is people that pay no attention to instructions/ signage/ announcements at various places. They're the ones that actually hold up the process, not the people doing the screening.
I found it enjoyable. Making America great again!
"Forgiveness is almost always easier to obtain than permission."
diggerg56 said:
Not sure whey anyone should raise a fuss about it.
Because it's useless. TSA, into which taxpayers have invested billions of dollars, has an abysmal failure rate; and you're not likely to convince me that near-minimum wage employees wearing security costumes at amusement park gates are going to have a better success rate than TSA.
I'm a Marxist, of the Groucho sort.
It only takes 'literally 5 seconds' if you're literally the only person in line. On the absolute 100% chance that the park has other guests besides you on a given day, it will take much longer than that. Not to mention that if you have early entry it will literally take some the time you paid extra money for, all for a net zero increase in actual safety.
Girl: "l want to ride that yellow one again... Twisted Wicker"
Me: "It's a roller coaster, not a broken clothes hamper."
noggin said:
diggerg56 said:
Not sure whey anyone should raise a fuss about it.
Because it's useless. TSA, into which taxpayers have invested billions of dollars, has an abysmal failure rate; and you're not likely to convince me that near-minimum wage employees wearing security costumes at amusement park gates are going to have a better success rate than TSA.
Yep. Cops and kids in schools are being shot at random. Dumb people are doing dumb things to make the world a little less safe. Let's do nothing at a major amusement park for the off chance that something terrible might be prevented.
You're right. Let's add security checkpoints at the entrances to all restaurants, grocery stores, banks, drug stores and anywhere else something terrible might possibly one day happen. Why take the risk a crazy person might go on a rampage when their Quarter Pounder doesn't come fast enough?
I'm a Marxist, of the Groucho sort.
noggin said:
You're right. Let's add security checkpoints at the entrances to all restaurants, grocery stores, banks, drug stores and anywhere else something terrible might possibly one day happen. Why take the risk a crazy person might go on a rampage when their Quarter Pounder doesn't come fast enough?
You're right. It's all a waste. Abolish all of it, TSA, park security at the gate, security at football and baseball games, concerts, and government buildings. They're just minimum wage employees with a hand wand.
There's no reason anyone would target an amusement park with tens of thousands of people.
Actually, it is a waste.
But the world today is in terrible trouble, people are afraid, and no one seems to know what to do about it.
homerj281 said:
Abolish all of it, TSA,
TSA should be abolished ... and replaced. TSA is breathtakingly incompetent. It's an agency that misses upwards of 90% of contraband items in tests that the agency is told the day and time are going to occur. If they're missing that many items in tests they're warned about, what are they missing on a day to day basis? There are ways to protect travelers. TSA isn't the right way.
...park security at the gate, security at football and baseball games, concerts, and government buildings. They're just minimum wage employees with a hand wand.
At amusement parks, stadiums and concerts? Quite likely. They have no authority to detain you if they find something in your bag. All they can is call the police and hope you'll politely wait around for their arrival. Why not take the money spent on security theater infrastructure and stafffing and redirect it to professional security operatives (or, in the case of Cedar Point, an actual police force) focused on monitoring and responding to actual threatening individuals in the park?
At government buildings? Where people go to do actual important things? Those security folks are generally professionals. I don't have a blanket objection to security checkpoints. Just to ones that, well, are useless.
There's no reason anyone would target an amusement park with tens of thousands of people.
See? We can agree on something.
I'm a Marxist, of the Groucho sort.
There's no reason anyone would target an amusement park with tens of thousands of people.
See? We can agree on something.
Haha I just threw that last line in. I hope I'm correct.
RCMAC said:
Actually, it is a waste.
But the world today is in terrible trouble, people are afraid, and no one seems to know what to do about it.
I think the world has always been a terribly dangerous place. The individual dangers have changed and the media makes sure we hear about them constantly but we were never safe to begin with. The things that kill us just keep changing.
Homerj281: if a terrorist attack were to be made against a park, I think it would be Disneyland or Walt Disney World -- parks* associated with a brand broadly known around the world.
Paisley: Regarding the media: I'm not sure that the 24-hour news cycle we "enjoy" thanks to CNN, Fox, MSNBC and the like are a good thing. With hours of airtime to fill, stories that would have been a paragraph in a newspaper or a 30-second clip on local news 40 years ago become nationally broadcast news dwelled on for hours.
*Or, actually, any of the Disney parks around the world.
I'm a Marxist, of the Groucho sort.
I Never said it was right or wrong or how effective it was. i just said I plan for and expect security at those types of venues. I'd still rather have a token effort at security as some measure of deterrence than nothing at all.
And yes, the TSA, in it's current form is indeed pretty useless.
noggin said:
Homerj281: if a terrorist attack were to be made against a park, I think it would be Disneyland or Walt Disney World -- parks* associated with a brand broadly known around the world.
This would not upset me at all!
diggerg56 said:
I'd still rather have a token effort at security as some measure of deterrence than nothing at all.
Instead of a token effort at security ("Let's examine everyone, from a 14-year old to an 82-year old"), I'd rather parks (and arenas, and stadiums, and museums, and theatres) expend those resources on proactive security ("We have people on the ground and extensive monitoring equipment; let's watch for people who are acting suspiciously and focus our resources on them.")
I'm a Marxist, of the Groucho sort.
noggin said:
diggerg56 said:
I'd still rather have a token effort at security as some measure of deterrence than nothing at all.
Instead of a token effort at security ("Let's examine everyone, from a 14-year old to an 82-year old"), I'd rather parks (and arenas, and stadiums, and museums, and theatres) expend those resources on proactive security ("We have people on the ground and extensive monitoring equipment; let's watch for people who are acting suspiciously and focus our resources on them.:)
Just as long as they're not the same minimum wage "any available associate" that would have otherwise been at the gate wanding.
As mentioned above, professional security personnel, or, since Cedar Point has an actual police department, police, proactively managing potential or developing threats is something I have no problem with. It's the security theater I have a problem with -- the show of appearing to protect the public is what I dislike.
I'm a Marxist, of the Groucho sort.
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