On bag checks: they are there to appease the general public and help them "feel" at ease. If I'm a terrorist, and (for some reason) I want to blow up WDW or a park within it, I'm going to do it without going through the turnstile. I'll become a CM and get in thru the tunnels or other backstage entrance.....I'll drive my car around security checkpoints, after I study them for a year, and use my car as a bomb at the power plant up north.....I'll get a cell-phone detonated IED shipped in with the next box of Stitch dolls and detonate it while it's in the Merchandise Storage in the tunnels. No, I haven't been brainstorming these ideas for months - I just thought of them while I was typing, on the fly. We saw how orchestrated 9/11 was, and if they're going to do something to a place like WDW, they're going to do it with a team, with lots of planning. It won't just be Akmed walking thru the turnstile in a robe with a Jansport backpack. If Akmed decides he wants to do it half-[donkey'd] and try it on his own, he'll pack a pipe bomb with C4 in the velcro pocket in his khaki cargo shorts. At the same time, I don't see WDW as a major target, as many paranoid people do. If they're going to try again over here, they're going to hit the heart of the economy - wallstreet, major cities, banks, etc.....not some amusement park. If WDW gets blown up, all of us on here will cry, but it won't destroy the economy or our freedom.
On Metal Detectors: Right now, anyone could walk right into any park with a handgun and/or knife on their person - and not even carry a bag. If we're really trying to detect weapons or IEDs, we need some sort of imaging system, like X-Ray. Some airports in other countries have recently tested X-Ray machines like the ones mentioned a few posts earlier. They work more like the bag-scanners at the airport that actually show a live image as the object passes through. You can make out the shape and composition of pretty much anything that isn't tissue and see exactly where it is on the body. Right now it actually works TOO well, and....well....leaves little to the imagination, so they're trying to tweak it down a bit and help you keep your secrets....secret. I would personally MUCH rather see something like this than the bag check. Rather than an alarm start screeching, Security simply sits in a room adjacent to the entry tunnels and sends a plain-clothed officer out to the "suspect" and asks them to come aside for a quick sweep. No scenes...no sirens...no cause for alarm to other guests.
On Profiling: It's necessary. Not necessarily RACIAL profiling - just profiling. It's not a bad thing, and it's not Politically Incorrect. Every FBI, CIA and Secret Service agent profiles for a living - that's their job. That's how they detect problems and suspects. Someone who is going to do something wrong, or has just finished, will display characteristics that give them away. True, based on stereotypes, many Americans now practice racial profiling....and that will never end after what we've been through recently. We just need to do it in a less conspicuous manner, which leads to my next paragraph.....
I would like to see WDW install the face-scanners that were used at the Olympics and other large events. The cameras that scan every single face entering the park and compare them to a database of known criminals and terrorists. The systems work VERY well and eliminate the need for obvious profiling. The people watching the monitors can still profile, but they can cause less of a scene and less embarassment by addressing the "suspects" similarly to the X-Ray system above - discreetly. Between this and X-Ray Machines, they can eliminate the bag checks altogether and almost completely eliminate risk....unless they REALLY want to keep beer and smuggled candy bars out!
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