Much of this is from an old .net post of mine with a bit of editing and new material thrown in. Since my original post I’ve had the pleasure of working in another theme park while I waited for a more respectable job to start. This position was in retail as opposed to my accustomed culinary department, and I found the second theme park to be much more secure.
Overview
Theme parks offer a unique location for the pursuit of underworld exploits. Several factors support this:
1. The vast majority of employees are teenagers who care little for their job.
2. Theme parks are often extremely crowded, disorganized, and chaotic.
3. Their business model focuses on absolutely pleasing you, the customer, above anything or anyone else.
With this in mind, I’ll discuss some of the crimes I’ve seen committed or heard about during my long tenure, with special note to security.
Food
The first thing to keep in mind is that food is an extremely variable product. That is, its quality can fluctuate drastically, especially on really busy days. Complaints were common and they were considered a part of the job. No matter how ridiculous the problem was, we were taught to correct it. People would come back with their meals virtually finished and complain how they didn’t want certain toppings on it. We would replace it with an entirely new entrée, or even give them their full money back. Also, repeatedly requesting discontinued or random discounts will eventually net savings of up to 20 or 30% of your entire purchase. Not the most awesome type of fraud in the world, but a free meal at a theme park is quite a money saver. Complaining is key.
The security at a theme park restaurant is also extremely minimal. Most, if not all of the cameras, were focused on the employees on register. They don’t really consider food theft to be a raging problem. The set up in our case was self serve, cafeteria style. On a really busy day, food goes quick and usually unnoticed. Typically there is a part of the line after the food where nothing is really going on and you just wait, leaving much opportunity to make items disappear. Also, usually in this dead zone are pointless and expensive souvenir cups, straws, and other things. Collectible merchandise? Maybe, but probably not. Trophies of your exploits? Definitely.
Remember those carts selling slushies or popcorn, out in the middle of the park, staffed by one teenager in the hot sun? They offer multiple opportunities. There is usually no immediate supervisor or camera around, and the employee is usually overwhelmed in his/her work. Now, register employees are taught to check bills with a counterfeit pen, but I can tell you this rarely happens, especially in a situation where the employee is by himself. Observing other people pay for something with a twenty or greater will confirm this. They will surely honor a request for change for whatever bill you present, and so will the other carts you so happen to visit the rest of the day. None of this will be discovered until the day after when tills are checked and totaled. And boy, it is easy to forget a face considering how many people come to a theme park in just a day. However, remember that this will be discovered, and theme parks usually put out a counterfeit warning to other establishments in the area. Don’t be stupid.
If you have the misfortune of working in a theme park restaurant, there is a simple type of register fraud that requires the cooperation of a supervisor. As I said, it’s easy to get your money back and this happens quite frequently. The great thing about food is that there’s no physical record of a guest complaint. Questionable food is immediately discarded. A register employee could initiate a return with the approval of a supervisor and then make the money disappear. This is less noticeable when executed just before the employee is taken off register, taking out his/her till and waiting for their sales record to print. It is highly unlikely that camera footage would be reviewed and cross-checked with the time of the return, unless security is given a reason for suspicion.
And must I mention free food? That one’s kinda obvious.
Retail
There are definitely more cameras compared to a food department, but the focus is still on the employee. Even with cameras, which do have zoom capabilities, there isn’t anywhere close to enough manpower to accurately monitor every store. There are sometimes anti-theft sensors for clothing (easily noticeable/removable), but this is generally not the case. Staffing is as minimal as possible and in a large enough crowd, nefarious activity easily goes unnoticed. This is especially evident for outdoor displays and sales.
Tills in stores typically do not have more than 200 dollars in them at a time. Generally, once the employee reaches a set amount, they put new bills in a drop device that is only accessible by a supervisor. On the other hand, change tills usually have thousands of dollars in them with every type of coin and lower denomination bill. You will see a supervisor carrying this around from time to time. Vendors working out of aprons can have very large sums of cash of them, especially if the supervisor is too busy to pick up the excess money.
There are in fact undercover security guards that patrol the stores. They’re usually looking at something small such as a key chain, with their attention quite obviously focused on other people. After all, these guys didn’t graduate from a police academy. Your chance of running into one of them is extremely small, as most security is used for searching bags at the entrances and settling disputes between guests (more common than you might think).
General Notes
If an employee witnesses a theft, they are taught not to accuse or approach the perpetrator, but rather to remember their face and report them to a supervisor or security. Who knows how long that will take? And once again, it is rather easy to get lost in a theme park crowd. If you think someone is on to you, don’t panic. Disappear on some rides for a few hours and then get the hell out of there. Bags are usually not searched at exits.
There is usually a cop or two stationed at a park to deal with this kind of stuff, so it can get messy if you act without restraint (aka teenagers). Also, security can technically detain you for a period of time. I don’t know specifics, but the guest offers implied consent when setting foot on private property. Just read the fine print on the back of your ticket when the opportunity next arises.
So remember, be smart and have fun. Take revenge on theme parks for their high prices and poor quality of service.
Original .net post: http://totse2.darkbb.com/t5107-a-ref…on-theme-parks
