March 27, 1996 |By Jim DeSimone of The Sentinel Staff
Public police officers say they entrust some police work on Walt Disney World property to the entertainment company’s security.
And when they do have business at Disney, police are sometimes asked to surrender their side arms and park their cruisers out of sight, Florida Highway Patrol troopers testified Tuesday.
Disney’s control over law enforcement was detailed further during the second day of testimony in a public-records lawsuit brought by a Windermere couple against the company. Robert and Kathlyn Sipkema are seeking records concerning the death of their son. Robb Sipkema, 18, died in a crash after Disney security tried to stop a truck in which he was a passenger.
To get Disney documents as public records, the Sipkemas must prove that the company’s security force operates like a public police agency. Disney claims its security force is no different than any company’s private security and is not subject to state public-records law.
But Disney officer Susan Buckland testified that Orange County deputy sheriffs routinely turn over traffic violators to Disney security when the incident occurs on Disney roads.
Buckland, the security officer who pursued Robb Sipkema, said the practice has gone on for at least 15 years and allows Disney visitors to avoid a public traffic ticket. Disney issues traffic citations, which carry no fine and aren’t recorded on a motorist’s driving record.
The Florida Highway Patrol also has authorized Disney security to issue accident reports at crash scenes.
”They (Disney officers) relieved us of a lot of unnecessary calls,” said Capt. Robert E. Flemming, district commander for the FHP in Orange and Osceola counties.
Disney security looks much like public police, said Eric Faddis, attorney for the Sipkemas. They dress like their police counterparts and, until the Sipkemas filed suit, their vehicles were equipped with red-emergency lights, he said. They are still using speed-radar guns, Buckland said.
Several troopers testified that public police officers often feel unwelcome or hindered.
Flemming said paramedics for the Reedy Creek Improvement District have refused troopers’ requests to draw blood from suspected drunk drivers on Disney property. Reedy Creek is the public district within which Disney operates.
FHP officials are negotiating with Perry W. Doran, director of Disney security, for better cooperation, Flemming said.
Disney attorney David Evans argued that the Sipkemas are trying to hold Disney to a different standard than other private companies.
FHP Lt. Floyd R. Baker testified that state troopers rarely police Disney parking lots. But on cross examination, Baker said the FHP doesn’t typically patrol any private parking lots in Central Florida.
The trial is set to continue today at state Circuit Court in Orlando.