Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Security at Mayfest was a bit overbearing

By Pete Wann of West and Clear

The one thing that struck me the most about my Mayfest experience (aside from the near-TOTAL lack of environmentalism themed booths and activities), was the heightened security atmosphere. There were uniformed police officers at every step of the entry process, from the road leading into the park all the way through to the ticket booths. And according to my PR escort, there were an equal number of plainclothes officers milling around in the crowd.

I went to Mayfest on press credentials. In my experience and discussions with others, this means one of two things: either you get absolute run of the place (like we did at the Lone Star International Film Festival), or you’re locked down hard so that you only get to see what the event organizers want you to see.

Mayfest was really a lot more like the second scenario above than I would have expected. I was met at the gate by a member of the “marketing team,” who arranged for a golf cart to escort me around the festival while I took pictures. I was told that if I didn’t have a staff escort with me while taking pictures, it was likely that I would be confronted by the police and asked to leave the park. The reason given for this was “security.”

Stephen Witherden

Fort Worth Police Officers at Mayfest 2008

Now, I’m all for making sure that our family-focused festivals don’t become psychopathic killing fields, but seriously? How does preventing someone (especially someone invited to attend as a member of the media) from taking pictures of the attendees and the booths enhance the “security” of the festival?

While we were riding around on the golf cart, we rode by a guy carrying what most would call a “pro-sumer” Nikon camera. (Since I got my current camera, I’ve noticed that a lot of people take me more seriously than they probably should when it comes to pictures, just because it has interchangeable lenses.) He was by himself, but he had his camera out, ready to take pictures, and was also carrying what looked to be a camera kit bag. This combination of circumstances was apparently enough to trigger some kind of buzzer in my escort’s head, because he called back to base with a description of the guy and info about his general location and heading, intending to have a police officer intercept him.

Taking pictures is not a crime. Walking around without a family at Mayfest taking pictures is not a crime, particularly since the event (despite the fact that you have to pay admission) is on public property. Neither of these things are security risks, either. To call them such is to create a distraction for security staff who should be focusing on other things.

Fear = Power. Those who create the fear wield the power. I know I’m not the only one who’s noticed that the various levels of government seem to be selling out our civil liberties, all in the name of increasing our “security.”

I can’t say it any better than FDR, so I’ll leave you with this quote, from his first inaugural address:

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• Questionable Judgement

Comments

Pavel Lishin Verified

If you'd bothered to win free tickets to Mayfest, you would have parked in a special area, and would have walked right past the ticket booth. I'm pretty sure I threw mien away once we got home.

Also, I took tons of pictures, and so did my friends, including several of me punching a giant batman in the junk. Based on the fact that security didn't tackle'n'taze me, I guess they were just trying to scare you, though god knows why. I'm pretty sure that my friends and I were the shadiest looking bunch, especially when I found a cross and started screaming "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU". Maybe all the security folk had already gone home by then.

(My pictures of the event.)

2 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Erin Rice Staff

I will say, I attended the event as a media sponsor (on behalf of PN) and despite carrying a huge tripod, pro-sumer camcorder, and laptop, flew pretty much under the radar. So much so, that fans saw fit to stand right in front of my camera while taping the Gin Blossoms, but that's neither here nor there (jerks).

In any case, I didn't experience any of the issues that you did, and in fact, when the people at the gate saw my wristband and all my gear, they seemed more apt to let me get by more easily.

I'm curious why they would give you a hard time about it.

By the way, Misterh1, the lack of environmental items did seem odd at this event, considering it was at a large park/waterway in which 2 of the 4 stages were named after water-related things. However, on Saturday, they were giving away trees as part of the preceding Arbor Day. Usually, one would think in such a location there would at least be more related to park awareness, and maybe some signs that say do not litter. Instead, there was glitter and confetti all over the ground from the egg shell things they were selling.

All in all, it seemed like a successful event. I had a good time, and I imagine that if I had a kid, he/she would have been in carnival heaven.

BTW, there will be Mayfest video up in a few days! Check back for it.

2 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

pnewsgal Anonymous

This has nothing to do with Mayfest, just a similar observation. My daughter and I were driving around Mansfield looking for interesting subject matter for her college photography class assignment when we stopped at the school administration building. It had a very artistic stone wall that just called out "take my picture". So she did. Apparently some arrogant policeman with security guard-envy thought we looked 'spicious, gave my daughter the third degree, and a verbal beration for being there and said we should leave. Scared the &^%* out of her. The way he was behaving, I'm surprised he didn't take the camera and rip out the film. I guess two ladies in a VW beetle in broad daylight with a camera taking a picture of a WALL just seemed a little too dodgy...

2 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )