Skateboarding - http://maxpages.com/skatecurb/Security

(Summed up from an article in SBC Skateboard magazine)

If you skate anywheres other than the street in front of your house then chances are your gona end up getting kicked out of spots by security guards or land owners. Most time they will just ask you to leave, then you'll leave and come back later. Sometimes they will ask you to leave again and sometimes you go back, they might threaten to call the cops on you the third time you get kicked out but basicly thats as bad as it gets... But in some places there's security that just couldnt become real cops so they have to get their kicks and power trip by picking on skateboarders and other youth. What they don't know is that they dont have as much power as they think they do... So here's basicly what a security guard can and can't do to you. So without boring you with all the technical stuff from the law books, I'll just put it in words you can understand, cus the law book stuf is confusing.

Security Guards are just a citicen that represents the owners property. Basicly, security can't do anything we can do and have equal rights, no more and no less. This means that shop keepers, and those annoying padestrient that think your out to get them have just as much right to kick you out of a skate spot. But that doesnt matter cus nobody leaves unless some rent-a-cop or actual police officer kicks you out. So we could be a security guard by just telling people to go away if they do something wrong, we could basically be a volunteer security guard...

Security sometimes think they have more power than they actually do, all they can do is ask you to leave, and if you dont leave then they can call the cops and they will escort you off the property. If you are commiting a crime or refuse to leave then they can Arrest you, even if they are security. It's called citicents arrest, anyone can arrest someone who they believe is commiting a crime. If i see a bank robber Running out of the bank with a bag full of money, i could tackle him to the ground and hold him while someone calls the police. This is what security does if they have to. But if a citicen does arrest someone then they must notify the police as soon as posible so that the person can be arrested properly by a cop.

But, if a security guard tackles you to the ground and puts you in a figure four for skateboarding then they can be charged for using eccesive force. They can only use as much force as neccary and can be charged with assualt if they do. And if they grab you from behind without identifying themself then how are you supposed to know who they are? If someone grabs you from behind without identifying themselves then you can fight back, it could be an attacker or someone, you dont know who it is. If your grabbed from behind then a kick in the balls, elbow in the stomach, or even hitting them in the face with your board is self defence, but it can be assualt if you over do it, you'd know when to stop.

Security guards can't confiscate property. They dont have the right to take your stuff they are jsut citicens who represent the owners property. Smae rights as us, like i told you before. They can be charged with theft if they do so. And if you go into the movie theater and they dont let you into the movie with your board and try to take it, theya rent aloud. this happened to some of my friends but they got them backa fter the movie, but still the owner didnt have a right to take them. What the hell would they hurt by sitting in a chair with a skateboard on their lap???

Tickets? Some security is given permission by higher people to give out tickets. But if there is not a sign saying "No skateboarding" or "Tickets will be fined for skateboarding on property" or whatever then they shouldnt be able to give you tickets. If theres no sign and they try to give you a ticket, i suggest just saying "theres no signs here, im not paying that" leaving. Or something like "look a bird" and run. Don't think running is cowardly. I can hosetly say that i have run from cops before, and if someone tried to give me a ticket then id just run for it. After all, i'd rather be out of breath than out of $25. It's rare, but some security guards keep photo logs of skateboarders so they can ticket them later. Nobody is alouded to take photos of people without them knowing it... Eccept like the FBI but definately not rent-a-cops. If they do then they can probably be charged with some kind of shit or whatever, but if they show you a photo of you skateboarding on someones property and try to ticked you then like before, just tell them they arent aloud to take your photo without you knowing it, and that your not paying the ticket and run.

Not all security is out to get any skater that they see. Usually they jsut ask you to leave and thats the end of it. If the person is being polite and nice to you then please show them the same respect, skaters dont deserve the bad rep that they get so hopefully someday it will be cleared up. I'm guilty myself of shouting "Rnt-A-Cop" or "Oh no im so scared hes got a flashlight" to security if they're rude and stuff, but usually if they're nice to me, i'll be nice to them too. If they say "you guys can skate here for a while but just put the bench back when your done" then just put it back, takes less than a minute.

watchout4dacrack@hotmail.com

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Page Updated Sat Aug 3, 2002 8:49pm EDT