Location of World Championships/safety

[DonShaw]

So I am wondering is anyone at US First is worried about the safety of holding one of the two Championships events in Saint Louis? Currently Saint Louis is in state of emergency again for the violence of the Ferguson police shooting a year later.

Houston is also on top of the list as well as Detroit for violent crimes.

Is anyone else wondering if the leaders are looking at this when sites at chosen?

First emphasizes safety so much at their events while inside but does not seem to care what occurs outside the arena. Safety of all participants needs to be based on the entire makeup of the length of the events.

[dodar]

The search function is your friend.

[Ginger Bread]

Originally Posted by DonShaw

So I am wondering is anyone at US First is worried about the safety of holding one of the two Championships events in Saint Louis? Currently Saint Louis is in state of emergency again for the violence of the Ferguson police shooting a year later.

Houston is also on top of the list as well as Detroit for violent crimes.

Is anyone else wondering if the leaders are looking at this when sites at chosen?

First emphasizes safety so much at their events while inside but does not seem to care what occurs outside the arena. Safety of all participants needs to be based on the entire makeup of the length of the events.

I see what you mean but I'm sure that FIRST chose/will choose the safest areas of the cities to ensure a great experience for teams and spectators.

[Chris_Ely]

FIRST has certainly considered safety in their choice for the location of Champs. Both Detroit and Houston can provide a safe environment for large events like this. All major cities large enough to host an event of this size have crime problems.

[Knufire]

Originally Posted by Ginger Bread

I see what you mean but I'm sure that FIRST chose/will choose the safest areas of the cities to ensure a great experience for teams and spectators.

I think you greatly overestimate the number of choices that USFIRST has regarding this matter. There's only a handful of venues in the country that can even support an event of this size. Now take that handful, and narrow it down based on travel costs (both domestic and international teams), nearby hotel capacity, venue availibility, location relative to team distribution, etc, and you really don't have many choices left.

Originally Posted by Chris_Ely

All major cities large enough to host an event of this size have crime problems.

QFT.

[MikeBrock]

Originally Posted by Chris_Ely

All major cities large enough to host an event of this size have crime problems.

Seriously. People have been discussing the same thing for months! There is not a single city that can support this event and also doesn't have crime issues.

[jman4747]

Originally Posted by DonShaw

So I am wondering is anyone at US First is worried about the safety of holding one of the two Championships events in Saint Louis? Currently Saint Louis is in state of emergency again for the violence of the Ferguson police shooting a year later.

Houston is also on top of the list as well as Detroit for violent crimes.

Is anyone else wondering if the leaders are looking at this when sites at chosen?

First emphasizes safety so much at their events while inside but does not seem to care what occurs outside the arena. Safety of all participants needs to be based on the entire makeup of the length of the events.

You know about our crime numbers here in Atlanta right?

[EricH]

Just for the record:

Houston has already held one FIRST Championship Event. I believe the reason(s) for moving were not related to the factors previously mentioned, but rather the distance from pits to field (and the ramps in between), along with any contract-type discussions.

This was in 2003, before Atlanta hosted the Championship.

[I_AM_Clayton]

Originally Posted by DonShaw

So I am wondering is anyone at US First is worried about the safety of holding one of the two Championships events in Saint Louis? Currently Saint Louis is in state of emergency again for the violence of the Ferguson police shooting a year later.

Houston is also on top of the list as well as Detroit for violent crimes.

Is anyone else wondering if the leaders are looking at this when sites at chosen?

First emphasizes safety so much at their events while inside but does not seem to care what occurs outside the arena. Safety of all participants needs to be based on the entire makeup of the length of the events.

I happen to be a FIRST team member in the St. Louis area I actually live quite close to Ferguson and St. Louis city. Right now i'm going to give you the rundown of whats really occurring.

1. Ferguson and St. Louis city are not the same thing they have a few miles between them.

2. The unrest that is occurring is only occurring a specific area that happens to not be in St. Louis city, it is not all over the metro area.

3. This "state of emergency" is blown up way past the reality of the situation because of the media. I have not been effected by this and I live closer to Ferguson than St. Louis city.

4. These people are protesting against police and they are still mad as I am. These people are not out to hurt you. Trust me I live here and these people aren't going to attack a group of robotics students. As an African American student who associates with many others who engage in protests I feel that I have an educated opinion on this subject when it comes to the Ferguson issue.

5. I've lived in St. Louis my entire life and I never once have been robbed threatened or attacked. Sure the media makes the St. Louis area look absolutely horrible to the public but in reality it's excessive reporting. You all know how the media likes to blow things up. Yes there are robberies, yes there are shootings those occur everywhere in the entire world.

6. This state of emergeny is for St. Louis "County" not the city of St. Louis as CNN had it (incorrectly labeled on the front page of the official CNN site for the entire world to read. The championship occurs in St. Louis city.

7. I've seen the posts where people say they ave gotten there cars broken into multiple years but this is not a specific St. Louis issue, you don't think that wold happen in Detroit or even a city that is known to be quite "safe" if you gave a thief the option?
8. Yes I am writing out of anger and I apologize.

9. This is an issue that I am sure no one in the FIRST community has thought about. Michael Brown attended Normandy high school in Normandy Missouri Which covers a few different municipalities in the county area. Normandy is a school district and community that I have friends in and I even have competed "with" and against in sports. Back to the point The school that Michael Brown attended had a FRC team up until this last season in which they could not compete because all of there funding from the school had run out. Normandy school district was unaccredited meaning that there students could attend other districts in the St. Louis area but the Normandy school district had to pay tuition for every student that left the district. The team they had was FRC team 2902 NYACK http://www.usfirst.org/whats-going-o...rogramCode=FRC Which no longer exists because of money issues which was saddening to our team who accepted one of their former team members onto our team. Team NYACK even won the spirit award at the 2014 St. Louis Regional something our team could only ever dream of.

I needed to get that out.

[Foster]

I_am_Clayton, thanks for all of that.

For the rest of you about to dive into this thread, please, please look and read ALL of the prior three threads on this subject. Please note that all three slowly fell into the slime of people shouting back and forth at each other, one became fully engulfed and was mercifully locked.

If you still, after reading over 300 posts, have something unique to add (like I_am_clayton who lives there) go for it. CD has already been through the baseless fear mongering cycle on this topic.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by Foster

I_am_Clayton, thanks for all of that.

For the rest of you ...

If you still, after reading over 300 posts, have something unique to add (like I_am_clayton who lives there) go for it. CD has already been through the baseless fear mongering cycle on this topic.

I am all for politeness and not beating dead horses, but unless you are a list owner or moderator, you are not really in charge of the topics discussed. Everybody has the option of ignoring the threads they are not interested in.

Without going into my opinion of the relative safety of various cities... Site safety is a valid concern for at least the lead mentors. Safety of venues is at least important as rather or not to shout robot or what MSDS (soon to be be SDS) you should have. Current events that brings up safety of the venues are valid questions. Clayton posted a well thought reply to this.

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

MSDS (soon to be be SDS)

Thank you for not calling them MSDS Sheets. It is appreciated.

[The_ShamWOW88]

All cities have crime problems. I would be very confident that the city and FIRST will use all resources to prevent any danger affecting teams and their students.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by The_ShamWOW88

All cities have crime problems. I would be very confident that the city and FIRST will use all resources to prevent any danger affecting teams and their students.

For the last few years the provided team trailer parking at St Louis came with a warning not to park there overnight. That is hardly using all resources.

[The_ShamWOW88]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

For the last few years the provided team trailer parking at St Louis came with a warning not to park there overnight. That is hardly using all resources.

Sure, in that situation, but they could have not bothered to warn you at all.

I'd love some examples of major cities where car break-ins "never, ever happen, no way no how" that has a major stadium and infrastructure to handle something the size of the FIRST World Championships.