Lack of Security at Incident in DCA

[hollywood1939]

My wife was near the incident at ToT (apparently we can't link a video so I'm not posting one and I really hope no one else does so this doesn't get locked). Judging by what's happened and what has been seen, what's blatantly obvious was the lack of security and their response. The incident happens for a while and yet no one comes and helps this one security guard? Plus, it seems like the CM's at the attraction had to help this security guard subdue the man and yet I'm sure they'll get severely penalized for doing so as it's probably against their rules. But, I applaud them as I think they did the right thing because it really took Security way too long to respond. Either they're severely understaffed or Security took their time, either way it's not good enough.

[indianajack]

The one other time I saw an incident was on Tom Sawyer's Island and it took forever for security to arrive. There was one security guy to fend off the incident showing up after a few minutes, and it took 15 minutes for additional help to arrive. It wasn't a situation as serious as the one here but still there is obviously strength in numbers, and those numbers need to come materialize quickly. I chalked up the slow response to being on TSI and its remoteness from the rest of the park, but to have such a slow response in front of ToT is surprising and disheartening. It didn't seem the CMs got directly involved except to hold back the crowds. Luckily some guests helped the guard to pin down the unruly guest. Those guests did the right thing and hopefully they don't end up as defendants in a civil lawsuit. I'm shocked Disney doesn't have more non-uniformed security in the park that can respond immediately when the call goes out.

And thanks to the OP for starting this thread. The security situation affects all of us in the park and it should be discussed openly.

[Supertank]

I just watched the video on YouTube... you weren't kidding. It took 4 minutes for more security to show up, and the guy was throwing punches and everything. Park guests should never have to intervene in this situation... they had to pin the guy to the ground to keep him from attacking a security guard (who clearly couldn't take the drunk on his own). I hope those guests received some sort of reward, like got a days security guard wages or something like that.

[Mr Wiggins]

According to the L.A. Times story on the incident, "Police were called about 3:30 p.m. to assist security personnel at the theme park, [Anaheim Police Dept. Sgt. Bob] Dunn said. When they arrived, 'several guests were holding down the man,' he said."

[Druggas]

Let's put the blame on the drunken guest.

[sir clinksalot]

MOD NOTE:

We are going to allow this thread to stay, as we do think the lack of security response is something that should be discussed.

That said ... the video that is out there should not be posted, if it is it will be removed. Enter this conversation at your own risk, we will be watching it VERY closely and we will not hesitate to remove posts or close the thread should the conversation get too heated and/or off-topic.

[bounty]

Let's put the blame on the drunken guest.

I choose to put them blame on both. There is no excuse for either.

[biggsworth]

I don't know I feel really safe at Disneyland. I see a lot of uniformed security so who knows how many hidden ones there are. Think about the ratio of incidents we don't hear about. All it takes is one issue to come up and go rampant to make it seem like the sky is falling. Lets go the other side of the fence and say 75,000 behave and one does not. It's hard to judge security off one incident IMO. I would actually put blame on the guest/customer here and he will be glorified unfortunately through social media. We have no idea what their security is like but I know how my company works and they do a great job but it will never be 100%

[lazyboy97O]

When so much is mentioned about Disney parks being littered with plain clothes security, it does seem peculiar that so much time would pass. While Disney claims guests were never in danger, according to the posted article, some obviously felt otherwise, thus their intervention.

[BrodyDanger]

Let's put the blame on the drunken guest.

Of course he is to blame for the incident, but I am a little shocked at the delay in response by park security. From what I saw, there was one security guard there by himself for three to four minutes. This wasn't the first time something like this happened and it definitely won't be the last. To put park guests in a situation where they need to subdue a violently confrontational man for several minutes is unacceptable, IMO.

[hollywood1939]

Let's put the blame on the drunken guest.

I absolutely do blame the guest here as I put it on him for getting the way he was and we could also open another thread/discussion on how this guy was allowed to get this drunk either in the park or outside it and then let in.

But my point is specifically on the lack of response in security. The one guard there is getting physically assaulted and yet the response time it way too long. The guests that pinned the guy down should not be put in that situation. It makes me a little concerned on how safety is handled there as if a situation happened to me or my family (not that I'd expect to be in one), I'd expect security to be there quickly and with a sense of urgency.

[Mr Wiggins]

An interesting quote on KABC-TV: "'We appreciate the actions of the guests who came to [the security cast member's] aid during this uncharacteristic incident,' said Suzi Brown, a spokeswoman for Disney."

In the aftermath of most police or security incidents involving the public, you usually hear reminders for onlookers to not get involved.

[brenden]

I think we can put a little blame on lack of security here. I've had incidents happen (both alcohol and non-alcohol related) where an unnecessary force of security descended upon us in an instant. This guy was obviously belligerent, so it's kind of disappointing that it took that long to be resolved.

---------- Post added 02-20-2012 at 11:14 AM ----------

Anyone notice what park this incident happened in?

It's in the title of the post.

[Moonliner]

Certainly there is a lot here for Disney to review here in terms of how they train for and react to this type of incident.

Needing to have other guests step in to help is wrong on so many levels.

Also I find the reactions of some people in the crowd to be pretty disappointing. Laughing, cursing and yelling are not the way to go here.

[sir clinksalot]

We also don't know if alcohol was the only contributing factor (or even if it was a factor). We can't just assume it was.

If the guy was intoxicated, he wouldn't have been let out with a "citation", he would have spent the night in the "Drunk tank".

We also don't know if the "guests" holding him down were undercover.