Heres a cool perspective on Disney Security from someone who worked there.
http://forums.securityinfowatch.com/showpost.php?p=51189&postcount=21
Copied from above website.
Walt Disney World is actually much larger than a small city. Now you may be referring to one of the 4 theme parks which exist at WDW (Magic Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom), each of which would be the equivalent of a small city. However the Disney property in Florida is over 65 sq. miles and actually contains 3 cities (Bay Lake, Lake Buena Vista, Celebration), which have mayor's and such and which are totally under the control of the WDW Company.
You see, WDW is it's own government in Florida. In the 60's the Florida Legislature authorized the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is WDW's Government Services arm, which has the same basic powers as any other county in Florida, including the ability to tax, issue bonds, regulate alcohol, have police and fire departments, a school system and even the power of eminent domain anywhere in the state of Florida.
Reedy Creek Improvement District is a real government entity and is entirely under the control of the WDW Company, since WDW Executives are the Board of Directors. RCID has a 911 system which covers the entire property (including theme parks, resorts, hotels, business parks, office buildings, residential areas and 100 miles of public roadways, including a chunk of I-4) and provides dispatch and communications to RCID Fire and EMS Services as well as WDW Security. During serious incidents or when an arrest has occurred, there is at least one Orange County Sheriff's Deputy assigned to RCID and who is also dispatched thru RCID Communications who can handle prisoner transports or whatever else WDW Security needs his "Official Powers" to do. WDW Pays Orange County for the Deputy assigned to their district (much like a contract city or town when a state police force or sheriff provides police protection to a city in lieu of a municipal police force).
WDW Security functions as the district's defacto police force and prior to the mid-ninties took a very proactive policing role in the district. Prior to 1996 the WDW Security Vehicles had FLORIDA COUNTY plates and red lights and sirens; however after a pursuit wherein a 16 year old passenger was killed and WDW was sued, the company started restructuring it's security division to take a less public role, although interestingly enough,
WDW Security employees DO NOT carry any Security Guard licenses from the state of Florida ( D & G cards ).
WDW Security Division is now divided into two branches (Resorts and Parks) after the highway branch was disbanded in the late 90's and motor units assigned to each of the 4 regions began patrolling the highways and roads in their region.
The regions are as follows:
Mike 1 -- The area surrounding Magic Kingdom and the North Service Area (where the WDW owned power plants, water treatment facilities, warehouses, are located among other things)
Echo 2 -- The area surrounding EPCOT
Sierra 3 -- The area surrounding Disney-MGM Studious
Kilo 4 -- The area surrounding Animal Kingdom (which includes the South Service Area (where the tree farm and K-9 kennels are located among other things)
Delta 5 -- The area surrounding Downtown Disney (includes some big shopping centers, some big apartment complexes where the 10,000+ Disney College Program people live and Hotel Plaza Blvd among other areas)
Anyway, like a major police department you can get into all sorts of specialized assignments, depending on what you want to do:
Plain clothes Loss Prevention Specialist
Plain clothes Retail Theft Operative
Uniformed Security K-9 Unit
Uniformed Security Posts
Uniformed Security Foot Beats
Uniformed Security Bike Beats
Uniformed Security Motor Beats
Roughly 200,000 people are on WDW property at any given time, so it is a busy place 24/7 ... car accident's, suicides, domestic disputes, robberies, you name it, they all happen. Remember I am not talking about just theme parks here, which would in fact be one of the more quiet places you could work.
I left WDW Security in 2002 and came to DC where I became a police officer, however my last post there was as Motor 35 in the Delta 5 Region. I would average over 100 miles a nite in my patrols and responding to calls. It was a very busy region, since it included Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island, which has quite a bit of alcohol related incidents in the evening and early morning hours.
I had a blast with WDW and wish I could go back and do it again. Maybe if WDW gets their act together and starts their own real and official police department one day, I would return. Otherwise it'll all just be a very good memory.
I like to think Disney is omnipotent but I can guarantee you this is a mistake. Disney cannot declare eminent domain ANYWHERE in Florida. They can't just decide to build a resort on South Beach Miami if they so choose.
