Youth and Security at General Assembly
According to the (Fort Lauderdale) port security regulations, minors (under 18) without identification (student identification is acceptable), who "present no obvious threat, will be admitted on a case-by-case basis." Obviously, this presented concern about how our youth, particularly youth of color, would be treated. After meeting with the Broward County Convention Center staff, and the Broward County Sheriff's Office, I have more confidence in the security process at General Assembly.At the meetings, I learned that when youth are checked for identification, they will be asked where they are going. As long as they say that they are going to General Assembly, they will be let in. A problem could occur if they are carrying a weapon or if they verbally threaten the checkpoint guard. Racial profiling is not an issue, as the sheriff's office is very concerned about this issue, and all of their staff goes through diversity training. They offered to let us have a person stationed at the pedestrian gate to help resolve any access questions that may occur. If there are any problems with youth at the gate, Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) staff will be contacted to help mediate the problem.
These conversations have reassured me that the security process will treat our youth fairly. It is still possible that incidents may occur, but I am confident that we can work with the sheriff's office to resolve these incidents in a fair and equitable manner.
—Darrick
Jackson
Assistant Youth Ministries Director
Unitarian Universalist Association
For more information contact generalassembly @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
