Atlanta’s Fox Theatre Announces New Metal Detector Policy
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the historic Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta has decided to install a new security measure: metal detectors at the front entrances. With this move, the theatre hopes to mirror the practices of other entertainment venues in the region, including football and baseball stadiums. The theatre will begin using the metal detectors for shows during its summer film festival. The metal detectors will be looking for items that are already prohibited in the theatre. That list includes firearms, pocket knives, and utility tools.
More Venues Introduce Metal Detectors
The announcement comes the same week that the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln Nebraska announced its new metal detector policy, the Lincoln Journal-Star reports. It’s not just keeping up with the Joneses that’s motivating the Fox to tighten security. According to manager Allan Vella, the theatre “can’t help but see what’s going on in the world.” The theatre will use 8 to 10 metal detectors in the arcade section of the theatre during a full house event. The process will require patrons to remove keys and other metal items from their pockets before undergoing metal detection. Each patron will probably spend between five and seven minutes going through the process.
Georgia Law Holds Landowners Responsible for Providing Security
One motivating factor for arenas and theatres to tighten security may be to reduce their liability for criminal acts that occur on the premises. Georgia law holds landowners responsible for taking reasonable care to prevent injuries to their guests and customers. This includes doing what they can to prevent foreseeable injuries from criminal acts. Courts usually ask whether the area around the premises is a high-crime area and whether crimes have occurred at that location in the past.
Theaters Without Metal Detectors May Be Liable for Negligent Security
But cinemas, theaters and stadiums may pose a special case. These types of public venues have been the site of numerous violent shootings and terrorist attacks over the past few years. In the context of such a situation, a court may find that a theater is the foreseeable location of a shooting or violent attack. If that’s true, then the venue has a responsibility to take reasonable measures to prevent an attack from happening.
Usually, reasonableness is measured by what other similar businesses are doing. In the case of the Fox Theatre, the reasonable thing is probably to install metal detectors, since this is quickly becoming the standard practice for public venues. Most of the venues that are announcing the use of metal detectors are large sports arenas rather than live theater venues. However, a 2012 shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado made national headlines, and for this reason, a court might find that a shooting at a similar venue, like the Fox Theatre, might be foreseeable.
Get Legal Help
If you or someone you know has suffered an injury on someone else’s property, you need legal advice. Get in touch with a premises liability lawyer at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter in Cobb County today to get the compensation you deserve.
