Bias Claims, Security Needs Clash at Park’s Main Gate

Designed to hurl and whirl and twirl, the steel and wood constructions at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia let their riders safely experience fantasies of speed and daring.

But, when the Colossus or Ninja or Shock Wave rides glide to a halt and riders return to solid ground, responsibility for their safety reverts from engineers to security guards.

Magic Mountain has come under fire recently from critics who charge that its anti-gang efforts--in particular, searching suspected gang members for guns and drugs and refusing entry to some--discriminate against blacks and Latinos.

The aggressive stance taken by Magic Mountain is largely a result of a 1985 melee of three San Fernando Valley gangs that led to six stabbings and 21 arrests, said Sherrie Bang, chief spokeswoman for the park. About the same time, gang fights erupted in a parking lot outside Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.

Training Started

Within a month of the stabbings, Magic Mountain began identifying gang members and searching them; soon after, the Buena Park Police Department began training Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm security guards in anti-gang methods. At Knott’s, city police officers searched every person seeking entry for about six weeks.

Amusement park officials contend that what they do is no different from security efforts undertaken at rock concerts or some athletic events.

But park officials are finding that striking the proper balance between concern for patrons’ safety and issues of privacy, civil rights and discrimination may be the most difficult balancing act of all. Also, recent court rulings have rejected the argument that businesses can turn away customers they view as security risks.

Wary of compromising their gang-identification methods, officials of Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland are unwilling to discuss many specifics.

Representatives of Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm acknowledged use of a set of so-called “identifiers” that alert security guards to gang members.

A Disneyland spokesman refused even to confirm that much, contending that the park does not have a problem with gangs--despite a gang-related shooting in the parking lot last year that killed a 15-year-old Inglewood boy and wounded another.

A spokesman for Sea World in San Diego said that park has never needed to use specifically anti-gang procedures.

Critics and some experts say that, with nearly 600 gangs thought to be active in Los Angeles County alone, most with their own “colors” and habits, there is no reliable way to pick out gang members from the swarms of other park visitors.

Infringement of Rights

Black and Latino patrons, in particular, say Magic Mountain guards trample on their civil rights by targeting them more frequently for the searches. The state office of the NAACP has received three complaints about anti-gang searches at the park since last summer, one involving a black U.S. Navy sailor.

The American Civil Liberties Union is also investigating several cases, including that of a dozen Latino youths who complained recently about being searched. Several complaints were made after publicity about a March 12 incident in which eight teen-agers and their adult counselor--all members of a Christian youth group from San Diego--were searched for weapons or drugs before being allowed to enter Magic Mountain.

The nine were the only black males among a larger group of whites, Latinos and Asians, and were the only group members searched. They contend that they were not wearing any gang-related clothing and are not gang members.

Park officials would not discuss what brought the nine to their attention. But Lt. Chuck Bradley of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s anti-gang unit said a photograph taken at the park by a member of the group and published in The Times showed one of those searched flashing what could have been a gang hand signal.

The state NAACP is now considering a class-action lawsuit because of the search, contending that Magic Mountain has frequently discriminated against minorities and violated state and federal civil rights statutes.

“It seems this situation is a cancer at this particular facility,” said Jose DeSosa, head of the state office of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

‘A Preference Problem’

“It is not and never has been a security problem,” said lawyer Phillip Feldman, who won a $35,000 settlement from the park for a black client who was the target of a racist remark by a park employee. “It’s a preference problem.”

But park officials deny they discriminate against minorities and say they try to block gang members from entering the park regardless of race. In the past year, for example, guards have begun watching for members of potentially violent white “Skinhead” gangs.

“Gangs have become so sophisticated . . . that we have to maintain a constant vigil so we understand new movements, new trends and what are the new modes of behavior and styles of dress,” Bang said.

“The down side to it is, unfortunately, sometimes guests who are not gang members but who are unknowingly wearing or exhibiting a criteria associated with L.A. gangs” are searched, she said. “We sincerely regret that anyone feels embarrassed or inconvenienced.”

If suspected gang members refuse to be searched, they are turned away. But Bang said that, even if the searches turn up no contraband, some are refused entry. “It has to do with attitude,” she said. “If someone identifies themselves as a so-and-so gang member, then they’re not allowed in the park.”

Bradley, field lieutenant for Operation Safe Streets, said Magic Mountain uses four basic profiles of gang members.

The Bloods and the Crips

Two of the profiles are for black gangs--corresponding to the Bloods and the Crips--and the others are for Latino gangs and white gangs.

Using videotapes, role playing and other methods, Bradley’s unit helps train Magic Mountain security guards to identify gang members. The park also hires off-duty deputies to work the gates during certain events. Bradley declined to specify what was included in the profiles.

But, he said, in general security guards look for modes of dress, clothing colors, hand signs, certain code words or phrases or behaviors. It is common knowledge, for example, that the Bloods display red clothes or kerchiefs and the Crips wear blue.

“It’s not 100%, but what is 100%?” he asked.

Sgt. Ray Davies, who works with the Los Angeles Police Department’s anti-gang program out of North Hollywood, said: “A lot of it is an intangible thing that’s difficult to articulate. It’s just experience.”

In other circumstances, however, attempts to identify violent people based on appearances have been less than successful.

Dr. Chaytor Mason, an associate professor of safety science at USC who has also studied psychology, said profiles used for security purposes, such as the early profiles of hijackers developed by the Federal Aviation Administration, were notoriously inaccurate and “were only a bunch of stereotypes rather than any realities.”

Apart From the Industry

By attempting to screen gang members, the three Southern California amusement parks have set themselves apart from most others in the industry. Richard Fussner, former loss-prevention director of the Kings Island amusement park in Ohio and now a private consultant to parks on safety and security issues, said only a few parks in the nation have adopted specific anti-gang methods. This is true even though parks in New York and New Jersey have had gang-related problems.

Among the Southern California parks, Magic Mountain is somewhat different in that as much as 80% of the 2.9 million guests it expects this year will come from the region, heightening the possibility that rival gangs will meet there, Bang said. Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm, in contrast, draw more tourists from other parts of the country.

“We did have that incident in 1985, and we’re not going to ever let it happen again,” Bang said. “What we’re dealing with is a very real threat to personal safety.”

Whatever the threat, a recent ruling by the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego said a business cannot refuse to serve someone merely because he or she is viewed as a security risk. In that case, a topless bar was told that it must let motorcycle gang members in, even if they are wearing their gang outfits.

“Just because people shoot themselves up on the street, they haven’t done it in your place,” said ACLU attorney Carol Sobel, who is handling the case of the dozen Latino youths who were searched at Magic Mountain. “Just because they are gang members in L.A. doesn’t mean you can keep them from coming in at Magic Mountain.”

Critics of Magic Mountain’s procedures say they do not object to searches. But the targeting of minorities for the searches is another matter, they say.

Search Based on Race

Jim Smith, an attorney who is a member of the NAACP state executive board, said guards should have searched all members of the San Diego group even if they were concerned only with part of them. As it was, the search appeared to be “racially based,” Smith said.

“It’s such an inconvenience to begin with, so why subject everyone to it?” Bang asked. “The difficult part is what happened to the San Diego group when they felt singled out.”

For some parks, the screening of patrons extends beyond safety concerns to appearance and behavior that may disturb the wholesome, family-type atmosphere they strive to create.

Disneyland, for example, had a rule that barred two people of the same sex from dancing in the park, fearing that the practice would offend other patrons. In 1984, a male couple won a lawsuit against Disneyland, arguing that the rule violated the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.

“It becomes a judgment call by people at the main gate,” said Robert Roth, a Disneyland spokesman. “If their appearance could be misconstrued to the point where people think this person is part of our show, or someone who, in our judgment, could be offensive to people, . . . we will ask that person to alter that portion of their appearance.”

Safety consultant Fussner said some patrons’ objections about appearance should not be grounds for barring others from the park.

“It becomes a very ticklish thing, and I can understand the dilemma when you’re trying to identify and ferret out groups,” he said. “But there’s only so much you can do at the front gate without stepping on people’s toes.”