Now that Minnesota is just two days away from the State Fair, there are some questions about security at the “Great Minnesota Get-Together”.
The State Fair has asked the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office to step in and help out the State Fair Police force with security in 2022. There is actually a coordinated effort that also includes the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota State Patrol.
With concerns of increasing crime across the metro area, two high-profile malls in the metro with shootings just in the last couple of weeks, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher talked to The WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar to explain the process of protecting the Fair, and what the plan is for keeping fairgoers safe.
Sawkar: Is it going to be a secure place for people to go?
Fletcher: It will be safer than ever. The team that's been put together even exceeds what we did last year and I think the people that visited saw the presence was great. So we have put together a great team with 120 or so State Fair Police Officers, 30 (State) Troopers, 40 Ramsey County Sheriff's Deputies, and really another 20 or so Hennepin County people will be assisting. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputy) Major Dawanna Witt over there is committed to help on the weekend evenings.
I think you'll see enhancements that will make everyone feel safe when they're there. I'm confident. My family will be there on a regular basis. There will be some improvements in perimeter security. It's always a matter of keeping the troublemakers out in the past. We have had young kids with grievances with others try to sneak in the Fair and we're going to bolster those perimeter security efforts substantially this year.
Sawkar: As you mentioned, it's that perimeter security and late at night at the end of the fairs where you see some of those problems happening. Is there a strategy related to that? To curb some of the end of the night situations that happen?
Fletcher: That's a great point. All of our trouble starts somewhere in the Midway or near the Midway late at night. Usually it's rival groups or grievances that are brought there. So in addition to making sure those troublemaker don't get into the Fair that we have some history, or if they do get in lawfully, you know, we have intelligence teams that know them. That'll be monitoring them. We have a camera system that is second to none.
Of course, nowadays we're using drones for security perimeter. We can't stop every grievance, but we'll have enough of a presence. And of course we all have 20 ambassadors that are there from the community that know these kids and can deescalate things before they start. So I'm confident the plan is better than it was last year. And I thought we had an awesome plan when the Sheriff's Department ran it. There's a little logistics in putting teams together, but the new (State Fair) Chief Ron Knafla there, and the State Fair, have done an amazing job in the last eight months building a police department.
Sawkar: You alluded to this. There was a situation where the State Fair initially said, ‘we don't need your help.’ Now they're saying they needed the additional officers. How has that back and forth worked and how do the different agencies work together to make sure that the State Fair is secure?
Fletcher: I think the agencies themselves work great together. We always have. We have mutual aid agreements. Sometimes the political entities might argue about who should pay for what, but in terms of getting the job done and making sure the Fair is safe, there's never really been a problem. So we've had two weeks now to muster forces and get people mobilized and organized. And we'll have our final planning meetings this week. You know, to be honest with you, the planning includes weather-related events, of course, with a hundred thousand plus people in one location. If there's some bad weather, that's as much of an issue as any other safety issue. So, you know, we're preparing. The biggest issue is how many corn dogs am I going eat in between the roasted corn? Because the roasted corn is my favorite.
Sawkar: When you hear of what happened at Mall of America, and just some of these public places, and to be in law enforcement, no place can be a hundred percent secure. It must be such a challenge to provide security for some of these very open and accessible places?
Fletcher: Well, there's no question that we'd be foolish to deny what's happening around the rest of the country in large places. And so we will have active shooter teams that'll be hidden on the fairgrounds. And at the first report or identification of some active shooter we’ll respond with long rifles to that incident. You won't see them until or if there is an incident.
But there's a three pronged approach. Number one is prevent the weapon and the individuals that might use them from getting into the Fair.
Now that's number one. That's why our premier security.
Number two, if they're in there and you have good intelligence, which we have a great intelligence unit at the Sheriff's Office, make sure you shadow them and keep an eye on the potential problems.
And then number three, if the problem does occur, have enough proximity to the shooter that you can remove the threat as quickly as possible. So we're prepared to do all three. And I mean, this is what we do for a living. The chance of it happening is very, very small. More likely if there's a problem late at night, sometimes when the groups can't get in, the problems occurred at the gate like it did three years ago.
But there are other issues. If you saw in Kentucky two days ago, the Kentucky State Fair, someone brought some noise makers that sounded like gunfire. And those noise makers caused a panic and a rush and people got hurt trying to rush to leave. It was not a gun, it was just a noisemaker. So we have to anticipate all public safety threats and obviously the larger the group, the more difficult it is for us to ensure safety. But, but the entire fairgrounds is fenced. It's actually got barbed wire on the top. Very difficult to get anything in. We have metal detectors. Last year was the first year of metal detectors. And the State Patrol is at every single gate around the clock. So, I mean, it's pretty tough. It’s similar to getting on an airplane at this point.
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