LexRides

drewbles · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 10:19 pm Post subject: $ecurity at the polo court$

so, after confirming that not my keys, but my wallet was stolen and my car nearly stolen, all while in the middle of a game this afternoon, i've got to wonder if we should do anything about security of personal belongings while playing.

obviously there were many things that could've been done to prevent the situation on my part alone, but any thoughts on building a small locker to put all our bags in during gameplay? it could also serve as a seat for onlookers and perhaps deter anyone from quietly looting through our packs while we play.

its not the end of the world for me, but stressful and stupid nonetheless and i hope it doesn't happen to anybody else. if anything, and this goes unsaid, just be smart about where you put your stuff and try and always stay on lookout for eachother.

by the way, thanks to everyone that hung around and waited for me to figure it out. matt, kyle, corbin, james, zach and jessi, good lookin out.

any thoughts??
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brokebike · cutter Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: local

I've been thinking about a chain-link "cage" at the far end of the center court area, where we now keep the goals. It could be really simple, like the cage around the electrical boxes where the light controls are. We could build it big enough to store all four goals, and possibly other stuff too.

The problem is, we seem to have a really hard time keeping up with locks. For whatever reason, all our different locking methods end up getting compromised because they get lost or stolen. The trick is, how do we keep the circulation of keys, or lock combinations at a minimum, while still having the flexibility so that one or two people don't have to always be the ones everyone goes to for keys when we need them?
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sailorjames · cutter Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 329

Jess · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:36 am Post subject:

Yesterday wasn't just about Drew's wallet getting stolen (although that was definitely the pinnacle...). We had a group of kids take an unopened rolling rock bottle and purposefully throw it down outside the gate shattering glass everywhere. A girl took Andy's wrench while he was playing and ran away to the basketball court (thanks again Corbin for getting that..). Same girl picked up two mallets and started hitting the shafts against the boards....
I understand they just want attention, even if it's negative, but enough is enough. I vote for chain/padlocking all four gates to the courts (we never really use them anyway). The cage idea might take some time, but I like it. We really should try to fix the hinges on the middle area's gate as well.
While probably not a popular sentiment, I'd like to tell the kids they're not allowed in the middle area while we're playing since they've been disrespectful.

DoFlo · townie Joined: 03 Aug 2009 Posts: 199 Location: Lex

Those kids seriously always make me paranoid. I agree that they shouldn't come inside the fence. It is, really, kind of dangerous, and they have no reason to be inside anyway. It's not like they're big enough to even play polo. They're just bored. I think we need to be more vocal, and also the locker or some place where we centralize everything that can't be easily accessed sounds good.

Drew, very sorry to hear about your stuff. It kinda shows how we are too nice and they're taking advantage of that since they tried stealing your car basically in front of everyone. Hope you get stuff straightened out easily.

brokebike · cutter Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: local

Whoever was drinking Rolling Rock AND bringing a glass bottle inside the courts deserves to get some shit. Both for drinking that nasty-ass swill and for ignoring our NO GLASS rules.

It's pretty easy to not bring glass onto or around the courts. Just buy your drinks in plastic containers or aluminum cans. If you bring glass, it will end up broken. Period. Not to mention the fact that several of us will wonder why you feel like you are immune to the repeated requests over the years to help the rest of us keep glass off the courts. Just do us a favor and leave the glass at home.
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elzie5000 · cutter Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 1177

drewbles · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:12 am Post subject:

actually brian, i think the beer had been left by someone else way before we got there. there were 4 or 5 unopened bottles left in the box and no one took them home. here's hoping they were consumed and disposed of properly.

it appears we need to be more vocal and strict with the kids that come down, but i really don't think there is any need to lock them out completely. some of them are incredibly nice and very respectful and deserve a chance to have a bit of fun now and again. and to be honest, some of us could use a few interactions with rowdy kids. knowing how to handle them can teach you a lot about yourself.

we use the space as part of the community and as a part of that community, i believe we have the responsibility to try and interact in a positive and constructive way with others who also live there. i think the only proper thing to do is just try to cover our asses by locking up all our stuff either in a plywood lockbox by the boards or by leaving it in the car if you drive, which is exactly what i should have done.
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brokebike · cutter Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: local

it all seems pretty easy to me - this thing with the neighborhood kids. What seems to happen is that they run into the courts and start grabbing stuff and running around with it. Maybe a few of them will ask if they can pick up a mallet, or touch a bike, but for the most part they just indiscriminately grab whatever they can just because they feel entitled... no one tells them they can't just do that, and no one tells them they should ask first. Some people who play polo don't give a shit, or consider it harmless, but personally, I don't like anyone touching my stuff without letting me know first. Once one of them sees another picking up something and running with it, the rest of them think that it's ok to do so, and they do it.

I get the feeling these kids aren't used to adults telling them "no". Also, some kids are just hard to relate to so it's easy to just ignore them and let them do whatever. I'm not good with kids myself. If we try harder to tell them "no", or to simply ask them to show us the respect of not touching our stuff, then we ask them to leave if they can't do that. There's nothing wrong with that.
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mrmcco02 · hipster Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Louisville

our courts being in a similar neighborhood as yours, we have had our fair share of hoodrats running around. we finally just took a hardline stance and said 'no kids allowed, ever.' we've told them they have to be 18 to be on the courts or have their own helmet, bike and mallet and their parents permission to play. not everyone in the club knows this so we have been trying to circulate that knowledge and help get everyone on the same page, but its hard to get all the newbies informed and at the same time keep the kids in line.

luckily, we've been given the clear to lock our courts, so we only have one open at a time typically and the corners are the only locations there are to stand, so regulating is fairly simple.

we built a lockbox on our 'A' court for the tourney and that worked well, as it was incorporated into a corner and worked as a platform. the only bad thing is the neighborhood kids have wrecked the lock to that court for now, so no one gets to use it.

good luck guys.

brokebike · cutter Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: local

We've been given the clear to lock our courts as well - in fact, Rudy from Parks & Rec advised us to, but there are a lot of our players who didn't really want to go that route, so that's why we haven't.

Personally, I'd love to lock our four gates and just keep the center access open, because I don't see the court facility as being a right-of-way for people passing through. It's a facility for bike polo and other sports, not a pedestrian thoroughfare. The way I see it, they don't have to cut through the courts, they can go around... it's not that much of a short cut.
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andy · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:22 pm Post subject:

my understanding is that it played out like this. im not sure how far the kids got with drews car, but we'll hope they learned a lesson.
we do need some sort of uniform rule in terms of how we treat the other denizens of the park. thats not to say we've been 'too nice' or 'too lax' with the kids, because we as a group have been almost uniformly nice and polite and we expect the same from anyone we interact with.
however, given chris' multiple cell phone thefts, and yesterday's purported car theft we should make some big changes to ensure that this doesnt continue.
as for future resolutions, i think we should definitely lock the four courtside gates permanently and declare that only players are allowed in the center. i suppose we can work on a definition of that collectively, but we should all reiterate that to any of the kids who come down, if you have a bike and want to learn you are welcome. if you need a bike, we will help you get one. but no one who is not playing or getting ready to play should be allowed in the center area.
i like most of the kids and i think most of them are fine as long as we are nice to them, but i dont feel comfortable when our players are addressing the kids on an individual basis, because the message and outcome varies so much from person-to-person and situation-to-situation. better to make one universal rule and everyone can play/deal/cry about it equally

brokebike · cutter Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: local

maybe they wanted to put some 22"s on Drew's ride. That would've been tight.
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burton · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject:

so if you all do decide to lock the gates or a storage locker. you can or could order a lock/locks with a specific key so that everyone can have a key that access all the locks. i do have access to such locks and keys if that is what is decided upon/needed.

matt

drewbles · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:06 pm Post subject:

turner, your idea about permanently locking the 4 gates seems totally logically to me. any way we could weld on a couple of braces and weld the hinges so they are unmovable even if kicked repeatedly by a group of unruly youngsters as they were yesterday.

any thoughts on posting a sign with simple wording that clearly outlines the rules, or would it not do any good? any chance we or anyone can get more involved with community organizations to explain what we do there, why it matters and what benefits the community may entail through explaining our presence's benefits to their kids? we need to give them some incentive to respect our space and things. or is that a lost cause?
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