A family beach day at Indiana Dunes on August 9, 2024, became a humiliating and traumatic…read moreexperience. My husband and I brought our four children, ages 9, 7, 3, and 1, along with my sister and her 9-year-old son.
After lifeguards warned us to stay knee-deep because of strong waves, my nephew went slightly too far into the water twice. We apologized and understood the safety concern. Instead of simply asking us to leave, security escalated the situation: my husband was detained on the beach, and I was repeatedly prevented from returning to our children, who were only 30-40 feet away. I watched my 9-year-old daughter cry while a stranger comforted her and tried to help her wrangle my 3 and 1-year olds.
When another National Park law-enforcement officer arrived, I asked whether I could return to my children. He immediately said yes, making the first officer's refusal even harder to understand. The situation was humiliating and frightening for our family, especially over a minor safety violation involving a 9-year-old child (and again - this child was not even ours, it was my sister's son).
We later requested records and video through FOIA so the incident could be independently reviewed. Despite our efforts, they never provided us with the footage.
We fully support enforcing water-safety rules. If we needed to leave, we would have left. But there was no reason a simple safety issue had to become detention, separation from our children, and public humiliation.
Our family experienced none of the judgment, proportionality, or basic humanity that day. We will never return to Indiana Dunes. When we want a beach day now, we drive past Indiana and continue to Michigan.
