With public protection and crime at the height lately, the Little Rock Police Department, fair grounds security and other agencies have teamed up to announce generation and safety plans to be used for the Arkansas State Fair Oct. 14-23.
The number of homicides in Little Rock by 2022 just hit last year’s total of 65, and whether it’s in mayors’ forums or police reports, discussions about crime are going around.
To ensure some protection at the show, the LRPD will patrol a drone for the first time, spokesman Mark Edwards said. The department’s SWAT team has used a drone in the past, but Edwards said this was the first time a patrol drone had been used: The device arrived Monday. With an officer at the controls, the drone can monitor the domain and look for any protection issues, and add if someone’s child is missing. The video stream will also be broadcast to the Real Time Crime Center at the police station. headquarters in the center, Sgt. Troy Dillard said.
The Real Time Crime Center was used daily while its rooms were meeting, but this will be the first time “we are operational to the point where we can fully work on an event like this,” Dillard said. “We will be able to be informed from it, see what the most productive practices are for us and coordinate with other agencies on occasions like this. “
Fairgrounds security captain Frank Fields said he estimated more than a hundred cameras would be used, the most ever seen. The Real Time Crime Center will also have all the cameras installed in the program.
“Cameras allow us to react to a scenario before it escalates or goes bad,” Fields said. It could take place for us. “
A new detection formula will also speed up the procedure for access to the fair and ensure that no weapons of any kind enter the interior. Fields said that, for the first time, the exhibition center is the EVOLV detection formula. giant venues like Dollywood, Disney World and National Football League stadiums, he said. It detects well the presence of firearms, knives, pepper spray and other destructive objects.
Rather than an arch formula, the new security is more like a door, which Fields says will reach another 3600 people per hour compared to the previous 500. Customers will be pushed aside if more testing is to be done, Fields said. He said the fair had also gotten rid of the transparent bag formula and that bags from 14 to 14 inches to 6 inches were allowed in. Backpacks are still prohibited, but compatible bags can be registered; Strollers are also fine.
Anne Marie Doramus of the fairgrounds also announced that it will be a new public management formula and that it will have more agents on site than ever before: all 55 security personnel from the fairgrounds will be present. Major Troy Ellison of LRPD said protection is “paramount” and “the ultimate vital facet of the event. “The LRPD will have uniformed and plainclothes officers, as well as a fixed patrol.
Both the LRPD and fairground security officials said that if an active shooter scenario occurred, they were fully equipped to handle it properly. Fields said there are many emergency action plans you can adhere to if needed.
A fun side: This convention was held right next to a boat aquarium filled with man-like fish, and it didn’t seem too unusual for the fair. (Take my word for it, I forgot to take a picture. ) The room also smelled a bit fishy.