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Law enforcement agencies unveil safety plan for Minnesota State Fair

Ahead of Thursday's opening day, fair organizers say they're confident they have enough officers to patrol the fairgrounds.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Law enforcement officials unveiled their Minnesota State Fair safety plan on Tuesday, two days ahead of opening day, as they promised to have a full complement of officers despite earlier concerns about a shortage.

State Fair Police Chief Ron Knafla, whose department has reorganized this year after a one-year hiatus in 2021, said roughly 130 to 140 officers have come onboard from dozens of agencies statewide. Along with 40 deputies a day from the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, and 10 deputies from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Knafla said he's confident they've reached their target of 200 sworn law enforcement officers inside and outside the fairgrounds. 

The State Fair Police Department made headlines earlier this month after requesting assistance from Ramsey County, which the sheriff's office said was unprecedented in recent memory. 

"The State Fair is a unique agency, made up of officers from all over the state of Minnesota. We need that extra support and we're happy to have it," Chief Knafla said. "We have implemented some new things. Some of those things, as I've said previously, will not be obvious to fairgoers. Some of them will." 

State Fair officials expect more than two million people to attend the 12-day festivities, back to pre-COVID levels after a full cancelation in 2020 and somewhat lighter attendance in 2021. 

John Harrington, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said the BCA has done a threat assessment and determined a "low" threat level. 

"We want the State Fair to go, and come, without there ever being a story," Harrington said, "other than about the debate between Pronto Pups and corn dogs."

In all, around 55 to 60 law enforcement agencies will be represented in the State Fair security plan. The State Patrol will guard the gates again and Saint Paul Police will patrol the perimeter outside the grounds to prevent incidents like the 2019 triple shooting.

"We're going to have some intel people that are out here providing us with intelligence analysis of what's going on," Chief Knafla said. "We're also going to have more officers down in the problem spots that we've typically seen the issues."

For the second year in a row, the State Fair will have metal detectors to identify guns and weapons. The fairgrounds are also outfitted with many security cameras, which police can access if needed.

"We have the ability to do that if there's an issue," Knafla said, "but we are not sitting there watching the cameras 24/7."

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