Cedar Point new security checkpoint

homerj281 said:

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!

What kind of asshole says something like this? You want people to be hurt? I live two miles from there, moron.

Went to the park for the first time this year yesterday and saw the checkpoints for the first time. Had them at the front gate and resort entrance all day. I just left my phone in my pocket and the guy basically just waved it in front of me, I don't even think it was on. Really just to make people feel safe or to cover themselves in a lawsuit if someone says there wasn't enough security.

That doesn't seem very "secure." More like a waste of time and money.

http://m.ocregister.com/articles/park-748461-farm-begun.html

Knott's is getting metal detectors installed.
I wonder if CP getting them too this year?

Carowinds already has permanent metal detectors installed (just went there last Friday). They would hopefully speed things up compared to the wands used last season, so if metal detection is to become a permanent part of CP's security system, I wouldn't be surprised if CP has them installed for this season.

XS NightClub said:
http://m.ocregister.com/articles/park-748461-farm-begun.html

Knott's is getting metal detectors installed.
I wonder if CP getting them too this year?

Yes, they are.

You know what? I guess I have beat into submission but would not mind metal detectors as much nowadays. Just my opinion.

Aside from how annoying this security theater is, implementation is what concerns me most. I have yet to have a smooth experience with metal detectors at amusement parks. It has invariably caused a huge mess and a substantial wait.

A big problem is people don't know to empty their pockets before they get to the checkpoint. That's what causes a big part of the delays. If everyone has their pockets emptied before getting there, it will go alot faster and smoother.

That's an implementation problem.

Much more convenient and efficient for guests than the wanding which I thought was horrible. Hopefully they will have the sensitivity set on low so it doesn't trigger often if guests leave change or keys in their pockets.

I was opposed to the detectors at first but after seeing how many parks are installing them, I think it is just the way the industry is going. While I do not think they would stop someone that is intent on doing harm in the park, it is the thought that the park is safer now for people that think about those things.

Like many other security measures: door locks, cameras, etc; it's a deterrent. If someone really wants to make the effort to do something heinous, those things won't stop them.

Opening weekend at Carowinds, I was able to walk right through security with a 3.5" folding pocket knife. The metal detectors went off, they wanded me and it kept going off on zippers and my belt so they let my go through. I had no idea I even still had my knife on me till the old lady was like, "Do you have your knife on you?" And sure enough I did, the clip was even completely visible outside of my back pocket.

I've personally seen people with knives like this get stopped and had to take them back to their car, and now I've personally had no problems getting through with mine on me. So, in some cases the security checkpoints do their job and others they don't. I personally don't find it inconvenient and intrusive to wait at worst 5-10 minutes and walk through a metal detector, no wait on the slow days. Keep them around, doesn't bother me.

I found a credit-card sized folding knife at work once. It would be really simple to get something like that through security.

I won't believe metal detectors are coming to Cedar Point until I see the trademarks.

djDaemon said:

I have yet to have a smooth experience with metal detectors at amusement parks. It has invariably caused a huge mess and a substantial wait.

So you haven't been to WDW then? I went to Epcot for lunch yesterday. The screening at worst added 10 seconds to my entry.

I do have to say, in both of our most recent trips to all of the Disney parks, it's been a complete non-issue, even on busy days. And this includes us having each and every one of our bags checked (we still had the babyjogger full of stuff).

I'm not saying it will be such smooth sailing, but it was done professionally, efficiently, and really nothing to write home about.

The issue that CP has had in the recent past is that it's simply been done haphazardly and (at least in my experience) by folks who aren't necessarily trained to be doing such a task on a routine basis.

It was the wanding that was bad at CP. If they have those walk through metal detectors set to a low enough sensitivity, it shouldn't be much of an issue just to walk through. It is still security theater, but the walk-through detectors should make the process much more efficient and less intrusive.

Metal detectors in an amusement park environment have a nearly 100% false positive rate unless they are set to such a low sensitivity as to be completely worthless. I don't care if this is a direction the industry is heading, I still don't like it, think it's a terrible idea, and should be scrapped in favor of useful security protocols inside the park. If this kind of a security presence shows up at Cedar Point this season, I hope I won't be the only one complaining about it to the park.

Aside from the overall hassle and inconvenience, I hate the fact that we as a culture are so willing to throw away one of the founding principles of our National identity: that we believe in the presumption of innocence. That we believe that most people are decent people who are not out to cause grief or harm, and that it is a better practice to deal with the occasional evil-doer than it is to make the blanket assumption that everyone is evil. Which, when you subject everyone to a search on entering the facility, is exactly what you are doing.

Even worse, these checkpoints are ineffective at best, and at worst, they lead to a false assumption that because all the "weapons" were kept out, then the facility must somehow be "safe". I don't know what kind of security theater was in place this year at the I-X Indoor Amusement Park, but last time I visited a year or two ago, I had to deal with a bag search and a magnetometer. And yet, a couple of weeks ago there was a big enough and violent enough brawl that people were hurt and the show had to shut down early. Is it because the security staff was too busy screening people entering the facility to actually patrol the building and identify and de-escalate the conflict before the fight got started? Did anyone else notice that a few weeks ago at the Cameo nightclub in Cincinnati, everyone coming into the facility was frisked and wanded by security, and yet several people got shot?

Heck, it's fiction, I know, but hasn't anybody watched Beverly Hills Cop 3, when Axel gets thoroughly searched upon entry into a park that looks a lot like Paramount's Great America, and still manages to come up with a BFG?

I'm not arguing that there is no need to take security precautions in the parks. I'm not saying there isn't a potential for trouble on any day of the season, or even trying to suggest the best approach to take. What I am saying is that hassling everybody who comes through the gate with a metal detector and a bag check is not an appropriate or effective approach, and it almost certainly the wrong thing to do.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.