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Father-son police team works to keep MN State Fair safe

Steve and Jared Kuyper say their biggest tasks each day at the fair are usually giving people directions and reconnecting family members who’ve lost track of each other.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- A father and son police officer team has had a tradition of keeping Minnesota State Fair goers safe for the past seven years, but this year the tradition comes to an end.

State fair police say Steve and Jared Kuyper are the second-ever father-son duo on the State Fair Police squad. The first such team worked at the fair decades ago.

Kuyper family at the Minnesota State Fair in 2011. Credit: Kuyper Family.

Steve and Jared Kuyper say their biggest tasks each day at the fair are usually giving people directions and reconnecting family members who’ve lost track of each other.

When they're not working the State Fair, Jared is a police officer at the New Hope Police Dept., and Steve is a police officer at the Farmington Police Dept. where he'll retire next summer after 23 years of service.

Kuyper family at the Minnesota State Fair in 2013. Credit: Kuyper Family

"It'll be bittersweet," said Jared. "The best memory I have is: There was a fight in front of the giant slide. We actually got to break it up together."

Kuyper family at the Minnesota State Fair in 2014. Credit Kuyper Family.

Each year Jared's kids have stopped by the fair to greet their father and grandfather at work. This is the final year that grandfather will be in his police uniform in those photos.

Kuyper Family at the Minnesota State Fair in 2015. Credit: Kuyper Family.

"It's bittersweet, because I do enjoy it," said Steve. "I love it here, and working with my son is one of the reasons I came out here."

Kuyper famly at Minnesota State Fair in 2017. Credit: Kuyper Family

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