Disney OKs Permanent Police Presence in Park

Disneyland officials announced Thursday that they have begun allowing Anaheim police officers to be stationed permanently in the theme park and would support legislation to regulate amusement parks.

Word of the measures, the park’s response to the December accident that killed a Washington state man, came during a wide-ranging discussion by Walt Disney Attractions President Paul Pressler and other company officials during a meeting with Times reporters and editors.

However, neither Pressler nor other Disneyland spokesmen would give details about what kind of new safety rules they would back, or whether they would agree to state inspections of their rides, as parks in 40 other states do. They also declined to discuss their investigation of the Christmas Eve accident at the Columbia Sailing Ship.

“In all candor, as a result of the accident we are just deploying as much resources as we can” to ensure future safety at the park, Pressler said. “It’s not that we believe things are wrong, but you can never be too safe in this business.”

As part of that response, he said, starting Thursday a uniformed Anaheim police officer began staffing a Disneyland security office during operating hours, paid for by the theme park. Before, officers were at the park only during peak tourist times. All serious injuries will be reported to the police, who also will receive the names of all witnesses to crimes and major accidents, Pressler said. In addition, he said, the park will not clean up the scenes of serious injuries until the police give their approval.

“It will be Anaheim P.D.’s call as to whether or not it is appropriate for us to clean up the site, change the site, do whatever it is to the site,” Pressler said.

Disneyland came under harsh criticism after the accident for immediately cleaning up the scene and moving evidence, and not notifying the police. Questions also were raised about why Anaheim police interviewed no eyewitnesses except Disney employees, and waited in a Disneyland security office for more than an hour before going out to the scene.

The police officers will have radios, Pressler added, to monitor park security frequencies. Some other amusement parks, such as Universal Studios, already have such arrangements.

In the accident, a cleat tore free of the Columbia after a dock worker threw a rope over the two-pronged metal piece in an attempt to stop the boat. The cleat flew into a crowd of waiting tourists, killing the Duvall, Wash., man and maiming his wife and the dock worker.

“Any accident, whether it happens at Disneyland or someplace [else] within the industry . . . is clearly a nick in the perception of safety,” Pressler said.

Because an employee was injured, Cal/OSHA also is investigating the accident. Officials with the state workplace safety agency said their investigation initially centered on whether the cleat was misused to stop the boat rather than merely tie it down, and whether the employees involved had been properly trained. They declined to elaborate Thursday, and agency spokesman Dean Fryer said a report and any citations against the park are probably still weeks off.

Pressler said Disney will wait until Cal/OSHA’s findings are released to comment on exactly what caused the accident.

Anaheim Police Chief Randall Gaston said Thursday that the idea to post off-duty officers at the park during all operating hours was Disney’s. Gaston said he expects the new arrangement will take the equivalent of two to three officers per year.

In addition to stepping up police presence, Pressler said Disney officials have met recently with state Assemblyman Tom Torlakson about drawing up legislation to regulate rides. California law now requires state inspections only of mobile carnival rides, not fixed amusement parks.

Torlakson (D-Antioch), whose previous legislation calling for such regulation died last year, has been looking to drum up support for a new bill. Pressler said Disney would actively work with the lawmaker on developing such a bill, although he declined to give details of what provisions would be in it.

Torlakson spokesman Gary Gartner said that among the options discussed by Disney officials was an affidavit system in which the park would certify that safety measures had been performed regularly.

Gartner said his office is also starting to talk with officials at California amusement parks about how other states inspect rides and report accidents.

Pressler also said, as The Times has previously reported, that the accident had prompted Disneyland to launch a thorough review of all its operations and training in regard to rides and visitor safety. He would not give information on any changes, including staffing, that might already be underway at the park.

The police newly stationed at the park are officers off regular duty, like those who work at the Anaheim Convention Center or high school football games. But Gaston said the arrangement will probably evolve into full-time Disneyland assignments.

Police are based in a security headquarters office behind the Main Street section of the park. However, Sgt. Joe Vargas, a police spokesman, said the department doesn’t expect them to “just sit there at the desk like the Maytag repairman.”

“We hope they’ll be circulating around talking to employees and maybe to visitors outside the park,” Vargas said. Only in emergencies, however, would the uniformed officers actually be seen by guests inside the park gates.

“They have a pretty tightly controlled interior environment over there,” Vargas said.

Disney will open a second Anaheim theme park in 2001, along with an entertainment mall and a new luxury hotel. Gaston said his department will set up a station at or near those Disney operations. In the meantime, the new protocol for handling major crimes and accidents at Disneyland is expected to serve as a model for all major employers in Anaheim.

Asked if the Columbia accident had exposed flaws in how the park works with police, Gaston replied: “I think that incident has reminded them to call us promptly, which is what we have always expected.”