Theme Park Efforts to Keep Out Gangs Raises Issue of Bias

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

But when the Colossus, Ninja or Shock Wave rides glide to a halt and riders return to solid ground, responsibility for their safety reverts from the engineers to the security guards. Even though the park promises an exciting escape from everyday routine, the gritty realities of urban life are never far away.

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 most recent incident occurred March 12 and involved a group of San Diego teen-agers and their adult counselor--all members of a Christian youth group--who were searched for weapons or drugs before being allowed to enter Magic Mountain.

The aggressive stance taken by Magic Mountain is largely a result of a 1985 melee between three San Fernando Valley gangs that resulted in six stabbings and 21 arrests. At about the same time, gang fights erupted in a parking lot outside of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.

Within a month of those 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 at rock concerts or large athletic events and that all searches must be done with the person’s consent.

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

Wary of compromising the methods used to identify gang members, officials at Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland were unwilling to discuss many specifics.

Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm officials acknowledged using 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 parking lot shooting last year that killed a 15-year-old Inglewood boy and wounded another.

In San Diego, officials at Sea World and the zoo said they saw no need to take precautions against gangs.

“We do not search or refuse admission to anyone suspected of being a gang member,” said zoo spokesman Jeff Jouett. “We don’t see any need at this point to change our approach to this.”

Jouett, who could recall no problems with gangs at the zoo, said that on the rare occasions when suspected gang members enter the park, they are shadowed by security personnel during their entire stay. “Usually, they seem to be uncomfortable with being watched so closely, so they leave and don’t come back,” Jouett said.

Dan LeBlanc of Sea World speculated that the Los Angeles-area theme parks, because they offer rides, tend to attract a younger, more boisterous crowd.

“We draw a different type . . . this isn’t the kind of place that teens come to hang out,” LeBlanc said. There is no screening for potential gang members at Sea World, but gate personnel are trained to recognize and deny entrance to persons who appear intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, he said. “We are aware of the problems that some of the other parks have had but, thankfully, it hasn’t happened here,” LeBlanc said.

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.

Complaints Filed

Blacks and Latinos, in particular, say that 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 visiting the park.

The American Civil Liberties Union is also investigating several cases, including a complaint by a group of a dozen Latino youths who were searched. Several complaints also surfaced after publicity about the March 12 incident involving the San Diego teens.

The nine from San Diego were the only black males among a larger group of whites, Latinos and Asians, and they were the only members of the group searched. They contend 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 be a gang hand signal.

The state NAACP is now considering a class-action lawsuit as a result 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 De Sosa, head of the state office of the NAACP.

“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 the 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,” said Sherrie Bang, chief spokeswoman for the park.

“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 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.”

Gang Profiles

Bradley, field lieutenant for the Sheriff’s Department’s Operation Safe Streets, said Magic Mountain uses four basic profiles of gang members.

Two of the profiles are for black gangs--corresponding to the Bloods and the Crips, two major black gangs--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. In addition, the park hires Sheriff’s Department deputies to work the gates during certain events.

Bradley declined to specify what was included in the profiles. But he said security guards look for types of dress, clothing colors, hand signs, certain code words or phrases and 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 said.

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.”

Reality of Profile Questioned

In other circumstances, however, attempts to identify potentially 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.”

By attempting to screen out gang members, the three Southern California amusement parks have set themselves apart from most others in the industry. Richard Fussner, formerly with Ohio’s Kings Island amusement park 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, although parks in New York and New Jersey also have had gang-related problems.

Among the Southern California parks, Magic Mountain is somewhat different: as much as 80% of the 2.9 million patrons 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 that a business cannot refuse to serve someone merely because they are 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 colors.

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

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 a portion of them. As it was, the search appeared to be “racially based . . . and that is where the line was crossed,” Smith said.

Of course, Smith acknowledged, if every patron were searched, crowds would soon stop coming to the park and the mountain would lose its magic.

Behavior a Target

“It’s such an inconvenience to begin with, so why subject everyone to it,” Bang said. “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, targeting appearance and behavior that might disturb the wholesome, family-type atmosphere they strive to create.

Times staff writer Leslie Wolf contributed to this story.