Wow…. Fight at the park…..
Ron in the purple shirt showed up and was quite assertive. The man sitting on the bench in front of the Jack Aldrich Theater is a cool customer.
Seriously, I hope no innocent bystanders were harmed.
I’m surprised only one cop showed up to the scene. Definitely needed backup as it looks the other 2 ran away.
They may have ran away but not like they’re getting far on foot. Plus the front entrance is surrounded by security who can potentially follow and keep tabs on them.
First ride; Magnum 1994
Is throwing your shoe at someone the new way of fighting? It seems like that would be a bad strategy if you do end up having to run away.
I didn't want to say anything...but if that is today's version of a fight...it was kind of sad. I trust nobody go hurt (except perhaps, the kid who was thrown to the ground and detained), but the posturing and flailing was not something I would want my friends to see.
"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dreams a reality."
-Walt Disney
Chief Wahoo:
I trust nobody go hurt (except perhaps, the kid who was thrown to the ground and detained)
I would imagine that the cop who tripped and fell down at the 1:00 minute mark banged up his knee a bit. It looks like his pants tore after hitting the concrete.
One of the guys drew a knife. If I was there with my family and saw that, I would be heading straight to the gate and never coming back.
This is not the kind of publicity Cedar Point needs. They need improved security and top brass to publicly assure families this sort of thing won't be tolerated. That the fight escalated to that point and only ONE cop shows up and trips over his own feet chasing the fighters is embarrassing for the park.
I did not see the knife. But now the throwing of the shoes makes sense - they had blades in their shoe tips.
The officer was on the scene in about a minute. Seems like a reasonable response time to me.
Per this article, there was one arrest. One officer and multiple security guards were involved.
https://sanduskyregister.co...dar-point/
I understand they don't want this type of thing to happen (no one does). But what more do you want the park to do to assure families this sort of thing won't be tolerated?
I am a bit surprised by the lack of response (unless staffing in Security is a current problem). Now it's been years since I worked at the park but the front gate use to have a handful of officers around it all day, the Raptor entrance area had an officer, and the games across the midway would have an officer roaming around. All could have been on scene within seconds once the call was placed. Not to mention CPPD (or is it just CPS now?) is just down the midway at the Colosseum, which is likely where Sgt. Gilson ran from. When I worked at the park, you were never more than a few seconds away from 4 or 5 officers at any given time. Shame to see how long this went on and that after 2 minutes, only two officers arrived. I am sure more eventually did arrive but considering you can see the front gate from there, more should have been there quick. I am comparing to how security use to handle things and I have noticed the difference from the past so was this handled bad or slow? Not really. Just my observations. I did enjoy seeing Sgt. Gilson though, that man is a badass who over the years kept me safe in a variety of situations at the park.
GoBucks89:
I understand they don't want this type of thing to happen (no one does). But what more do you want the park to do to assure families this sort of thing won't be tolerated?
My suggestion would be a statement from CP brass letting everybody know they're aware of the situation and aren't ignoring it; and a visibly increased police presence in that part of the park for the remainder of the year. One or two cops patrolling the area around the Sky Ride, one at the front of the park, maybe two back by the Pagoda. Enough to make the punks think twice about getting out of hand.
Also, for those wondering about the knife, the punk in the tan sweatpants is brandishing it at 1:01 in the video. It's about switchblade size.
No amount of officers will make people think twice. When I worked at the park, I'd say at least 50% of the CPPD force were armed and there were plenty of officer visibility. That still didn't stop the kinda stuff in that video from happening. I saw my share of fights each summer, some with weapons, but there wasn't any/as much social media or cell phones with cameras so it didn't make it farther than those guests watching it happen.
The people involved in the fight ran away when the officer made the scene. The person who presumably was the one who was ultimately arrested resisted when he was initially detained. Not sure what would have made them think twice about what they were doing.
The policing environment is much different than it was even 5 years ago and certainly 15-20 years ago. Cell phones recording everything is certainly a part of it. But approach to policing itself has changed. And ultimately that is a good thing.
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