Rick Frenette of Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Rusty Fitzgerald of State Fair of Texas in Dallas, Geoff Hinds of San Bernardino County Fair in Victorville, Calif., and Gary Goodman of South Carolina State Fair in Columbia talk crowd security at IAFE. (VT Photo)
REPORTING FROM LAS VEGAS — There is always the potential for violent incidents when large groups get together in small areas. Should a situation erupt at a local fair, the community may no longer see it as a family-friendly activity. Fairs catering to urban populations that attract unattended youths continue to take steps to not only react to violence, but to also prevent it.
Panelists at the International Association of Fairs & Expositions Conference here, Dec.7-11, discussed their strategies to keep fairs secure and welcoming, including imposing age limits, shortening operating hours and working with local authorities.
South Carolina State Fair in Columbia first recognized a problem in 2004 when GM Gary Goodman realized there was an overabundance of unattended youth, age 13-15, on the grounds.
“We were basically a babysitting operation,” he said. “People were letting their kids come out to the fair and would basically drop them off and pick them up later.”
The 501(c)3 acted when a group of youth became unruly and had local county deputies escort the children off-site. Those youths ran into other kids who were part of a gang, which led to a disagreement and shooting. One child was fatally wounded and another was hurt.
“Although this did not happen at our fairgrounds, as far as the news media was concerned, it was at the fair,” added Goodman, who said that this incident happened the first Saturday night of a 12-day fair.
The staff immediately jumped into action and, by Thursday, instituted a youth admission policy that stated that no one under 16 years old could enter the fairgrounds after 6 p.m. without a parent or guardian age 21 or older.
“We put together a huge campaign that involved ministers and public service and had a giant press conference to announce what we were doing,” said Goodman, who added that there was such relief and support in the community that something was being done to protect fairgoers that the final weekend rebounded with great success.
The youth admission policy now prevents unattended children under the age of 17.
“We knew when we did this that we were going to lose money,” said Goodman. “If we didn’t do something that was drastic enough to keep this problem outside of our grounds, we could very easily lose the fair.”
Much like South Carolina State Fair, Wisconsin State Fair draws a large urban population in West Allis. CEO Rick Frenette called crowd security an ongoing concern.
“It’s interesting that we think we have these plans in place, but then we have an incident and we have to revise all of that,” he said.
The carnival midway at the Wisconsin State Fair is actually separated from the rest of the grounds by a county park. The fair runs an independent midway, which Frenette said seems to attract unruly youth. In 2011 a group of wild youth was ejected from the midway, which closed early. The kids were removed through the carnival gate, meaning they had to walk through the neighborhood to get back to public transit. The youths continued to be unruly in the community, leading to some arrests.
“That was the first night of the fair, so we had to immediately think about what we were going to do to curb that for the rest of the fair. We called Gary Goodman the next morning,” said Frenette. Wisconsin State Fair immediately implemented a youth admission policy, stating that anyone 18 years old or younger wasn’t allowed on the grounds after 5 p.m. without a parent or guardian.
“The biggest thing we learned back then is that we have to have a plan in place to prevent this in the future rather than just reacting,” added Frenette.
The community rallied around the positive changes at Wisconsin State Fair, too, with the increased security changing the perception that it wasn’t safe to be at the fair.
“When people started to hear that we were doing this our attendance actually went up, and families who hadn’t come to the fair before would thank us for doing this,” said Frenette, who added that over the last three years attendance has gone up about 25 percent total, which he partially credits to the increased safety of the event.
Further restrictions have come into place at South Carolina State Fair. In addition to the youth admission policy, there are now metal detectors at all admission gates, with Goodman saying several potential attendees have walked up to the gates, noticed the metal detectors, and turned right around.
The fair prohibited weapons of any sort including pocketknives and knives more than an inch long.
“At the end of the 2007 fair we had five 5-gallon buckets full of knives that we took off people,” said Goodman, who said the weapons were taken to the local sheriff's department and melted down.
State Fair of Texas also has metal detectors, and the security at Wisconsin State Fair checks bags for prohibited items. There have also been increased efforts to work with local authorities.
“We park a police car by every gate so that everyone can see it when they’re coming in,” said State Fair of Texas VP of Operations Rusty Fitzgerald.
Goodman said that employing K-9 units on weekends has provided an extra element of security.
“It’s amazing how those German Shepherds can calm a crowd down very quickly,” he said. “It’s like watching the Red Sea part.”
Wisconsin State Fair has 110 fully-licensed officers as State Fair police, and now works closely with neighboring cities and state patrol. The groups began meeting monthly in 2011 and now meet quarterly. State Fair of Texas has elevated police stands complete with spotlights, also employing roving officers and three teams of strategically placed police.
Police towers, which also are placed at South Carolina State Fair, allow fairgoers in the crowd to have an easy line of sight to police so that they can alert authorities to any dangerous behaviors.
Frenette and Goodman have both invested in cameras that are monitored from control stations, enabling those watching the video to immediately alert security in areas on the grounds where incidents are taking place.
Attendees are not permitted to wear gang colors and known gang membes are refused entry.
“The best way to maintain order on the grounds is to keep those folks off the grounds,” said Goodman. “It’s like ‘Whack-A-Mole,’ if you leave them on the grounds incidents keep popping up here and there.”
Fitzgerald has a different tactic, bringing in all of the youth for one night. State Fair of Texas gives out free tickets to every student at every school in a 100-mile radius for what they call ‘High School Day,’ allowing the fair to designate and prepare for the onslaught of youth. Known gang members are refused entry and the fair puts up signage to give other attendees notice about when high school day will occur.
“On this night we close at 10 p.m.sharp with a hard close — all rides are done at 10 p.m., all food and games are done by 10:15 p.m.,” he said, adding that coupons and game cards stop being sold at about 9:30 p.m. and the pedestrian gate closes at 9 p.m.
He said that even during non-High School Day, one of the most important tools for preventing violence is layout.
“You have to get into the anatomy of what causes these wilding events,” said Fitzgerald, who widens choke points within the midway. “It has to be crowded for them to start something — if you can back that up and create more space, it’s going to stop the unruliness.”
Frenette said Wisconsin State Fair took over its own midway operation, making it more open and easy to walk through.
Another of Fitzgerald’s tips is to keep the crowd moving, but not too quickly. Anyone running is immediately tossed out, but standing around in groups is also prohibited.
“Sometimes the kids will stand around and talk or dance around because one of the rides is playing a song they like. At 6 p.m. I change all my rides and make them go to country/western music — kids don’t want to stand around to that,” he added.
If there is an incident at South Carolina State Fair, ride music is immediately cut off.
Though security upgrades such as cameras and increased police presence do require additional investment, all panelists agreed that the bigger cost lies in doing nothing.
“If you let this get out of control, how much money are you losing from people being too scared to come to the fair?,” asked Fitzgerald. “It does cost more money, but it’s going to cost you a lot more if you don’t do anything.”
Interviewed for this story: Rusty Fitzgerald, (214) 565-9931; Rick Frenette, (414) 266-7000; Gary Goodman, (803) 799-3387