Upgrade Cedar Point police

A court case seeking to require the Cedar Point Police Department to operate at the same professional standards as other law enforcement agencies in Ohio could be decided in a mere few weeks. The Register asked the Ohio Court of Claims to rule that the amusement park's police department be required to keep records of its activities and make those records available when requested, the same as all police departments are required to do under the state's Public Records Act. Cedar Point missed a deadline to file a response to the Register's complaint and a court official set a Jan. 21 deadline for the Register to file any additional arguments why the park's police department should be required to keep records and make them available when any member of the public asks, just as other agencies are required to do. The concerns about how the Cedar Point Police Department maintained records of incidents inside the park compounded in August after a guest at the park suffered a severe injury while standing in line at to board the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster. A metal plate dislodged from a coaster train and struck her in the head. The police department and park officials ignored requests for information about the incident, but later acknowledged there was no record made of the incident. That's like wearing gloves to pick a safe so you leave no fingerprints. Simply, it's not how a police department should operate. If the park is going to refer to its security force as a police department then it should be required to respond to emergencies the same as a police department would: Document exactly what happened to the best of your ability and be accountable for it. In 2015, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that private companies that operate public service agencies such as a police force are required to respond to public records requests in the same manner as if they were public agencies. This was a good ruling, in our view, and it will protect the public and the park from potential abuse that can occur when standards aren't met. There are just so many scenarios of potential abuse that can happen when a security force identifying itself as a police force operates in secrecy or without being required to meet accepted professional standards. We're not accusing the park of intentional wrongdoing in any instance, but if there were incidents that should be reported but were not, or should have been properly documented but weren't, there would be no way to know or learn about those if proper record keeping isn't required. We're hopeful park officials will see the merits of the argument and restructure its police department so it meets the higher standards for law enforcement agencies designed to protect the public. The Cedar Point Police Department already is affiliated with the Sandusky Police Department, which maintains a high standard of professional service that meets the requirements of state law and the need to protect and serve public. We believe that partnership can be re-tooled so the park police force also can meet those same high standards.