Questions about physical security at conventions

by Mindchild 14 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mindchild

  Can someone here tell me what the current policy is in JW conventions in terms of inviting the public. Is the public invited only for the special talk on Sunday or can they come in at any time? If a memeber of the public does come into the assembly hall, are they escorted or kept under surveillance the entire time or just a short while? Is there any checks made for weapons made for individuals coming into the assembly or convention center?

  I'm looking for recent and accurate information please.

  My thanks in advance.

  Skipper

  "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings." - William Shakespeare
• 

  Seeker4

  Mindchild,

  My wife went to a special assembly day yesterday. No difference in security. It would seem this is the same at conventions. This is the way things have been for years:

  No one can really tell if you are a JW or the "public" - except if you dress differently, attendants will keep an eye on you. Security around the stage, especially at Conventions and with well-known Gov. Body members, has always been pretty visible.

  If someone wanted to get into a convention or assembly without drawing undue attention, the key would be to look as much like a JW as possible. No one is "escorted" anywhere for the most part. A notorious anti-Witness might be followed around by a couple of attendants and escorted out if they caused a disturbance.

  S4
• 

  Mindchild

  Thank you very much Seeker4

  "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings." - William Shakespeare
• 

  target

  One year at the district convention some guy came in and got up on the platform and started yelling that he was "The Faithful And Discreet Slave". They really tightened security a lot after that. That was in Madison Wisconsin which is know for a lot of very strange people.

  Target
• 

  Mindchild

  Target...wasn't that: You Know?

  "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings." - William Shakespeare
• 

  target

  Mindchild:

  Yea, it was, but I didn't want to come right out and say it.

  Target
• 

  garybuss

  My big run in with Witness district convention security was at Bismark North Dakota in 1975. I was belly pushed away from a perfectly good candy vending machine by two zealous attendants enforcing the crayon lettered *Out Of Order* sign. The official responsible was Duane Matz from Sioux Falls. When I asked the security officers to being him to me, he declined. Gee!!! Wonder why. . . . .
  
  This is the same assembly where I witnesses a little girl being terribly abused by her apparent father in the delegate seating and witnessed by a few hundred Jehovah's Witnesses plus the attendants. None of them stepped in to help her but I did.
  
  Beating a child at assembly is okay but dropping a dime on a Tootsie Roll is a mortal sin.
  
  Glad to be out of that element.
  
  gb
• 

  Judith

  target

  I attended the Madison, Wi assemblies. One year there were several people running down the aisles with signs and yelling something. They were quickly removed and when I asked what it was about I was told that they were apostates trying to ruin the assembly. It was the best part of the assembly. That didn't ruin it for me.
• 

  patio34

  M-m-m-m Mindchild, why do you want to know about the security at the conventions? Couple this with your thread about bioterrorism and it sets the mind a-thinking. We have ways of making you talk . . .

  Pat
• 

  ZazuWitts

  Mindchild,

  Just this past August, larc, popped in at a District assembly - it was on a Friday afternoon. He was wearing khaki trousers, and a casual, but boldly striped shirt, and sporting a beard. No one questioned him, or followed him around. I asked him if he got any 'feeling' they were keeping an eye on him, and he said "No, not at all." He was carrying a small, spiral notebook with him for note-taking.

  Maybe it depends on where you live, but it appears there was no enforced security, or overt suspicion of an obvious 'outsider' here in southwestern Ohio. However, I do expect they would react quickly to an out-and-out troublemaker. I had dropped him off outside the main entrance, and saw no 'security' people posted at all. In, fact, some JW's approached us and asked where you entered the arena - there was no individual there to direct them.