The Regal Kiln Creek Stadium movie show in Newport Information lately taped fliers with a brand new safety coverage to its ticket counter: “Backpacks and luggage of any variety are topic to inspection previous to entry to this facility”.
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Regal Entertainment Group acknowledges on its website the new searches, similar to those conducted at sporting events, is “not without flaws” and would inconvenience guests but provide better security. It’s unclear when and where the policy was first implemented, but customers noticed the change in Texas, Virginia, Florida, and Ohio starting earlier this month, The Associated Press reported.
Regal Cinemas – with nine locations in the city and suburbs – says a new layer of security is in response to recent tragedies.
The change comes as movie theaters have been rocked by a pair of attacks this summer, a shooting at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, that killed two women, and another where an armed man was killed by police at a theater in Tennessee.
Anyone checking their Facebook feed probably spot most folks worrying about their candy-sneaking habits, but this will undoubtedly be a turning point for how security will be handled in theaters going forward. The corporation says a bag check will now be part of the admission process for all of its theaters. “I know people want to think there’s going to be some kind of security, and maybe it’s the effect that they’re looking for, that they’re doing something”.
As of June 30, Regal operated 7,324 screens in 569 theaters.
The country’s biggest movie theater chain is beefing up security. While you can bet that Regal will be using this verbiage to execute bag checks for the next couple of months or so, there’s no language in the new regulations stating that this needs to continue happening after Regal and cinema audiences are comfortable with going to the movies again.
Moviegoer, Robert Sykes says, “Considering the climate we live in now you can’t be too safe you can give up a little liberty for the greater good and make sure we’re safe and secure”.
Cinemark Theatres didn’t respond to multiple interview requests this week, and a spokesman for AMC said the company doesn’t comment on security matters publicly.
At Carmike Cinemas 16 in Wilmington, a manager said they already have a policy that allows employees to check any type of large bags being brought into the auditorium, though purses may be an exception. The backpack ban falls far short of the metal detectors and other options found in many schools, airports, and other public places.
The attacks came the same month that Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was sentenced to life in prison for murdering 12 and injuring an additional 70 at a midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” three years ago.
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“I think it’s overkill”, said Moriarty as she took a smoke break near a Regal Cinema in lower Manhattan this week.
