CONTINGENCY OF SECURITY OFFICERS ON HAND

For most people, the SEMO District Fair offers the opportunity to come together, see the animals, peruse the craft booths, ride the rides and see old friends.

For the Cape Girardeau Police Department, the fair symbolizes a gathering the size of a small city in the area the size of a park, demanding special attention of its forces.

"We perform all police functions at the fair that we would patrolling on the streets any day of the week," said police Capt. Steve Strong. "When you have something that runs eight days and will attract as many people as does the fair, a lot of effort has to go into guaranteeing we have adequate manpower for the situation."

Uniformed officers can be seen walking, riding bicycles, riding motorcycles, patrolling the perimeter in police cars and scuttling around in golf carts through the duration of the fair.

"During any eight-hour shift, we'll have about six officers, a supervisor and two to four reserve officers within the perimeter of the fairgrounds," Strong said. "That doesn't include the zone officer, the shift sergeant and traffic officers monitoring parking and traffic in the area."

The police are sharing a command center with Wolsey Investigative Services, a private security force hired by the SEMO District Fair Board. The two are housed in a trailer at the northwest edge of the fairgrounds.

Traffic officers are also monitoring parking lots in an effort to prevent thefts and damage to vehicles.

The fair environment allows officers to interact with the public on a one-to-one basis in a relaxed atmosphere. Fairgoers will approach officers and speak to them when they would otherwise not have the chance while officers perform their normal duties.

In addition, the masses of people afford the department the opportunity to look for persons wanted on outstanding warrants for a barrage of charges.

"We have briefings at the start of every shift at the fairgrounds," said Strong. "Our regular officers know who's wanted for what and can sometimes spot those people at events like the fair."

If someone is arrested, officers either lead the suspect back to the command station to call for a car, or call for a mobile unit on the fairgrounds, depending on the officers' location and the situation, Strong said.

"It's like policing a little community," he said. "We are using mostly foot patrols, but when we have to move more rapidly, we have the motorcycles, bicycles and golf carts at our disposal."

A majority of the officers are working on departmental "payback time," which is budgeted into their schedules, so the officers in effect "owe" the city a few hours every year for special events and for training.

Aside from the regular police officers, the fair board has employed the services of a private security agency for 24-hour watch over the fairgrounds and fairgoers.

"We oversee parking and potential parking problems, enforce the rules of the fairgrounds and watch for pick-pockets and intoxicated people roaming the fair," said Dick Knaup, director of the Wolsey security force. "We are more or less a private police force."

Wolsey's security personnel are all licensed through the city of Cape Girardeau to perform police-like duties in almost a parallel capacity. The guards carry radios compatible with the frequencies of Cape Girardeau police and fire departments, the Cape County Sheriff's Department and the Jackson police.

Security personnel wear white button-down shirts with "security" or an insignia printed on the shirt.

The company has about 100 total employees working the fair, some of which are part-time parking attendants.

"We really haven't had any problems so far," Knaup said. "We hope there aren't any."