Violence within your haunt??

[ScarlettP]

There used to be a group of folks that went to all the haunts in our area. It would be 3 or 4 guys and at least one blonde woman who appeared to be drunk. The woman would keep hitting the monsters until one of them responded, then the entire group would demand a refund. That's how they saw every haunt in the area for free... until one of the owners refused to give a refund and the 'werewolf' who got punched in the face came out and agreed to file assault and battery charges. The owner called the cops while the group stammered and complained. They left before the cops could arrive - without getting thier money back.

And then there are times when the poor, innocent maze door worker steps between the 'She-drunk' and her cub. :roll: Sorry, Ken.

[gridbug]

And then there are times when the poor, innocent maze door worker steps between the 'She-drunk' and her cub

Haunters don't count my dear

[CyanideSolutions]

Does anyone use short walls to seperate patron from actor? Does this take away from the show?

[Jim Warfield]

It wouldn't take away from the show if you advertised it as "Come See Our New Shorter Walls", then everyone there would be anticipating them!
some huge, hideous beast on the other side of the short wall would be making alot of the patrons wish for taller walls!
If you are concerned about distracting people from a set because the wall visually blocks part of it, use ropes and stanchons or steel pipe railings, these things don't visually take over nearly as much, unless you have the ropes burning or the pipes are triple chromed?
I once built webbing out of steel cable fed through vynl hose, it was strong, yet pretty cheap.

[pdsnoz]

Re: Violence within your haunt??

Hi,
Im a little concerned about this in the UK to a level where im considering hiring doormen.

With having half of my family from the UK, I have had the privilege of experiencing English "Doormen". Especially with this Texan accent, and a higher alcohol level over there. I think that you are definately going to need doormen to spot out the intoxicants, and maintain a "security" presence. In particular, because of the fact that the drinking age in the UK is 18. As someone else said here, if we spot a potential problem, we alert the guests that they are being followed/watched, and remind them that everyone is attending the event to have a "good time", and by acting fools they "spoil it for everybody". In some cases, we have all had to "tail" groups.

My two cents.

[CyanideSolutions]

What I mean was scenic walls to keep actors away from customer's reach, like a wall of tombstones knee high in a graveyard scene... etc

[Jim Warfield]

Just don't make it a "Chicken Wire Palace", this always looks really bad and of course removes any fears a customer may have of getting touched at all, of course second-hand chicken wire could be scary if you consider poultry dieseases.

[Frightfactory UK]

Re: Violence within your haunt??

pdsoz

You said earlier...................With having half of my family from the UK, I have had the privilege of experiencing English "Doormen". Especially with this Texan accent, and a higher alcohol level over there.

Good experience or bad experience??

Think i probably know the answer already lol

Cheers

Mark

[Nicole]

We have several sheriffs' police that are stationed in the parking lot, at the entrance, walking through the haunt and at the exit... one of them gets VERY into it and makes his own foam latex appliances - he dresses up and acts too - once he was assaulted... he pulled out the badge - took him our front and gave him a citation... and the patron couldn't believe that our monster was a cop.

[Duke of Darkness]

Sorry, I am coming late to this discussion, but I have been very busy and not on the boards for a bit. Haunt security is an area near and dear to my heart.

Not only have I been a haunt owner/manager, but a police officer, security officer, and security consultant. Now as a lawyer, I look at the liability issues more closely. So, here are a few tips I have picked up along the way...

** If you can get off duty police officers, do so! They are a huge deterrent, and even off duty can make an arrest if they need to.

** Put your security people in some sort of uniform, even if it is simply a T-shirt that says "Security" on it. Patrons need to be aware that there is dedicated security on premises. This is a good deterrent to potential trouble makers.

** Make sure that your security personnel are well trained. If you use volunteers who are not professional security people, bring in a pro to train them. Ideally they should have recent training in First Aid and CPR.

** Train your managers and ticket takers to spot potential trouble makers. Have security or a manager follow these people through the haunt.

** Ensure that there is good communication between the actors and managers/security. Having at least one actor in each area with a radio is ideal. If that is not possible, have a rover who constantly walks the haunt and can contact security. Frequent walkthroughs by the manager are also helpful.

** Train you actors to alert security at the first sign of trouble. Most troublemakers start off slowly -- touching props, touching actors, etc. -- then progress to vandalism or assault as they go through the haunt. Actors should know to come out of character and give a warning at first minor offense. No second offenses or the offender is escorted out by security.
Many actors will be hesitant to report minor infractions. Make sure that they understand that this is important for the safety of all actors.

** Any time there is a serious incident, accident, or someone is escorted from the property, an incident report should be filled out describing the facts of the incident, the parties involved, and any witnesses. I know we don't like to think about it, but there is always the possibility of being sued, and this type of document can be a lot of help.

The bottom line is that you don't need a huge security staff if you have good training for all off your staff and have good communications. It is sad that we have to put such emphasis on this area, but it is a fact of life in our business. Best of luck,

Dave

[Frightfactory UK]

Dave,

The information above that you have given me is fantastic.

Thanks for all your help, its much appreciated.

All the best

Mark

[Chris]

Sorry, I am coming late to this discussion, but I have been very busy and not on the boards for a bit. Haunt security is an area near and dear to my heart.

Not only have I been a haunt owner/manager, but a police officer, security officer, and security consultant. Now as a lawyer, I look at the liability issues more closely. So, here are a few tips I have picked up along the way...

** If you can get off duty police officers, do so! They are a huge deterrent, and even off duty can make an arrest if they need to.

** Put your security people in some sort of uniform, even if it is simply a T-shirt that says "Security" on it. Patrons need to be aware that there is dedicated security on premises. This is a good deterrent to potential trouble makers.

** Make sure that your security personnel are well trained. If you use volunteers who are not professional security people, bring in a pro to train them. Ideally they should have recent training in First Aid and CPR.

** Train your managers and ticket takers to spot potential trouble makers. Have security or a manager follow these people through the haunt.

** Ensure that there is good communication between the actors and managers/security. Having at least one actor in each area with a radio is ideal. If that is not possible, have a rover who constantly walks the haunt and can contact security. Frequent walkthroughs by the manager are also helpful.

** Train you actors to alert security at the first sign of trouble. Most troublemakers start off slowly -- touching props, touching actors, etc. -- then progress to vandalism or assault as they go through the haunt. Actors should know to come out of character and give a warning at first minor offense. No second offenses or the offender is escorted out by security.
Many actors will be hesitant to report minor infractions. Make sure that they understand that this is important for the safety of all actors.

** Any time there is a serious incident, accident, or someone is escorted from the property, an incident report should be filled out describing the facts of the incident, the parties involved, and any witnesses. I know we don't like to think about it, but there is always the possibility of being sued, and this type of document can be a lot of help.

The bottom line is that you don't need a huge security staff if you have good training for all off your staff and have good communications. It is sad that we have to put such emphasis on this area, but it is a fact of life in our business. Best of luck,

Dave

Fantastic advice!

[cdufrene]

Violence

Yep, we use infrared cameras to record acts of violence in case of disputes and/or needs for litigation...we station private security throughout the haunt clearly identified as SECURITY GUARDS so there is no confusion; the security guards escort any potential troublemaker out through "quick doors" into the open area outside of the haunt where they are intercepted by police. There, depending on what type of problems they cause, will either be taked to jail, or forced to sit in a police car until the night is over.

[Xeverity]

Hi Mark

A good door person is what works for us. We have been running our Halloween events and haunt in the UK for over 8 years now. The rest of the guys in the UK seem to be doing ok as well. Most of the bigger amusement parks do have security and cameras. I have cameras installed in my haunt which are monitored.

Most of it is families and it helps that we are in a good area. Large groups are broken up. We don't let gangs in and insist people go in 5 or less at a time.

It isn't as bad as you would think. We certainly don't use a heavy handed approach. Also a lot of our actors are male and ex-rugby playing types. Confronting a 6 foot 4 heavyset man with a chain saw in the dark is not something most people would do.

Even tamer places like the London Dungeon which gets massive crowds around Halloween doesn't get problems.

[PumpkinHead]

I was wearing a full face clown prostetic (sorry for the spelling) attached with spirit gum. Guy walked up and pulled off the face piece (ouch)

Gah! same thing happened to me a few years ago! Except I was a roaming character ( still a clown ) and some girl ripped the nose off the prosthetic. I don't know which was worse the pain or the fact i lost a great mask. I would consider that more of vandalism than violence though.

PH