Security upgrades at Mid-Winter Fair
A child separated from parents; a person causing a disturbance; somebody injured not getting immediate medical attention – situations the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office wants to avoid at the 109th Midwinter Fair and Fiesta. Their focus is on families having fun.
Lieutenant Jimmy Duran said, “We want to make sure they feel comfortable coming to the fair. We want to make sure they bring their families and they feel that they’re being protected at all times.”
There are upgrades in security.
“More technology we incorporate here at the fairgrounds, the less incidents occur. Why? Because we’re preventing incidents from happening,” Duran said.
High definition cameras mounted throughout the fair.
“It allows us to monitor about ninety to ninety-five percent of the fair grounds at all times, to include every entry and every exit point. This system is being recorded, so if we ever need to go back and look at something that occurred, we can always do that,” Duran said.
Technology to better identify individuals.
“And infrared allows us to see these areas in which before were concealed, such as like in dark areas or shaded areas,” Duran said.
They want to be ready for whatever may occur.
“When you congregate a large group of individuals you never know what’s going to happen. A lot of times just having a deputy swing by a certain area will prevent anything from happening,” Duran said.
They want to be proactive.
“We see a suspicious individual, we are able to contact him before anything develops,” Duran said.
Fair officials agree safety comes first.
Fair Public Relations Official Bill Gay said, “Safety is always of paramount concern for our fair goers and for the people that work here.”
They say prevention is the best course of action.
“Any time you have a hundred thousand people gathered, you have instances that happen, but that’s why we have paramedics that are on site,” Gay said.
Thousands of dollars in new security measures are now in place at the fair so that families can focus on having a great time, and deputies focus on their safety.
