Security experts say Disneyland followed established safety protocols during a vicious family brawl that broke out at the Anaheim theme park over the Fourth of July weekend, reports the Orange County Register. The response by Disneyland security to the fight was “really fast,” said Michael Downing of Oak View Group, a Los Angeles firm that provides security for sports and entertainment venues. “It seemed like they followed all their emergency procedures and standard operating procedures,” said Downing, a retired deputy chief who worked 35 years for the Los Angeles Police Department. “They did exactly as they were supposed to do.”
A four-minute viral video of the brawl posted on YouTube has been viewed more than two million times. Retired police officer and security expert Ron Martinelli, security expert for Texas-based Martinelli & Associates, was “pretty surprised that situation went for as long as it did without a response from security.” Still, he said Disneyland is “probably one of the premier proactive security and premises liability facilities in the United States.” The video shows the fight start and stop several times while Disneyland visitors look on in shock. Disneyland visitors repeatedly stepped in to try to stop the fight to no avail. As a retired police officer, Martinelli would not have intervened in the fight without knowing anything about those involved. “It only takes a millisecond to get seriously injured or even killed,” said Martinelli, a former San Jose Police Department officer with 25 years of experience. “Once backup arrived, they intervened,” Downing said. “They used verbal commands. They had to physically restrain a couple of the people. Then a couple of minutes after that [the Anaheim Police Department] arrived.”