by Saoirse 10 Replies latest jw friends
I drove by a local kingdom hall today and noticed that they had put up 3 large "private property/no trespassing" signs and 2 "this area under security surveillance" signs. I haven't heard any reports of vandalism or break-ins so I'm curious as to why they would put up signs like that.
Why bother going door to door if the general public isn't allowed to enter the KH? It seems like a very strange and cult-like thing to do.
Is this happening at other KHs?
I've seen it at a quite a few kingdumb halls located in large cities, especially the bad neighborhoods. Never saw it at the rural kh's though.
In some areas, it has to do with skateboarders, and teenagers who want an empty area to goof off. Large, open parking lots are a nice temptation to many skateboarders who have no other areas to ride. I have heard from various Witnesses that several congregations in California have gotten sued because of children who have been injured while skateboarding and roller-blading in their parking lots. This explains why more and more KHs are installing iron-rod fences and gates.
My local KH is one of the fortress you are talking about, I live in a small town but still the Elders are paranoid about Kids playing in the parking lot areas so they make the KH look like a fortress. This is the reason for the signs and fences.
At the one on North Cedar in Fresno it has three automatic gates....it looks like Fort Knox, very inviting and all. LOL. Of course the KHs in the poor neighborhoods just have a paved parking lot.....
Just wanted to state the obvious. Of course the general public are still welcome and invited to the Kingdom Halls. All such persons are considered invitees and have standing permission to attend any of the public meetings held at the Kingdom Halls. Such permission is revocable of course.
A person entering the property outside of normal public hours (perhaps to do mischief) or who have their permission as an invitee revoked would be considered a trespasser.
This is nothing new and is the case with any private property and even in some public property situations. The putting up of signs saying "No Trespassing" is not particularly necessary and is only explicitly communicating the laws that are already in place. Maybe it is viewed as a deterrent upon some and maybe the KH has been having some particular problems with vandalism.
-Eduardo
I've seen that around here too. The local KH has the luxury of two entrances on different streets (they are situated near an intersection and have the potential for through traffic to avoid the pesky stop lights) so the "No Trespassing" signs are intended as a deterrent to that as well.
Having said that, it seems fairly obvious that having erected these signs and expecting the general public to respect their wishes, they would also educate members of their congregation to have an understanding of what it means when similar signs are encountered in the Door-to-Door™ Ministry™. In other words, get a sign of your own and sue their asses off if they ignore it. They won't have a leg to stand on.
I haven't seen that in this area yet, and the kingdom hall I used to attend is in quite a rough part of Derby, very close to the red - light area. We did have a few windows broken from time to time, but no real problems, despite the neighbourhood.
Yes, I would agree that if a person were on KH property after meeting hours that would not be the same as their being there for a meeting. I have seen no trespassing signs on KH property were there are people in the neighborhood hanging out for illegal purposes and for activities that might lead to their injury and then the congo might be held liable. Posting a sign warns such people and makes any accidents the trespasser's responsibility.
If I were to be at my workplace after hours without permission, I would be considered trespassing and perhaps arrested.
Blondie
Hmmm let's see
some of the possible problems faced by halls (other than what is mentioned above)
