Securing the Dixon May Fair Calls for Partnerships

By Sarah Herrera
Dixon Patch Correspondent

Solano County Sheriff’s Department, Dixon Police Department and private security join forces to provide security during this week’s May Fair.

Dixon Police Chief Jon Cox estimates that 50,000 people will attend the fair this week. In order to accommodate the large amount of people attending the special event, Solano County Sheriff’s Department will lead the security.

Over the past few years, the responsibility of security for the event has shifted from the sheriff’s department to the Dixon Police Department. The decision for the Sherriff’s office to handle security comes down to the agency having a larger staff to work the event.  The department is not only larger than Dixon Police, but has a lot of volunteers and search and rescue teams.

Regardless, he Dixon Police Department will increase staff during the fair by staffing an additional three officers, one supervisor and additional support staff as needed.   The overtime is paid for by the city of Dixon.

“We do not charge the fair for the overtime the city incurs,” said Cox. “We understand that the fair brings a lot of business to town and we are pleased about that.”

The primary function of the Dixon Police is to provide public safety for pedestrian crossing and to educate the public with traffic signs for the quickest route to and from the fairgrounds.  Dixon Police are busiest before and after a concert since people tend to arrive and leave the fair at the same time.

Most of the criminal offenses that happen during the fair are related to alcohol.  Occasionally fights will also break out, said Cox.

“We always realize that when you have an event like that (May Fair) and there’s a human element and there’s an alcohol element, there’s always potential for people making poor choices and typically every year there are a couple of arrests that happen out there,” Cox said.

Another challenge for security is theft of items from parked vehicles. 

“We try to encourage people who go into the fair that when they park their vehicles to not leave any items in their car that is of value, so that we don’t have someone try to force entry into their vehicle and steal their property,” Cox said.

Cox said the communication between the sheriff’s department and police department is very good.  There is also a private security company that is hired by the fair and has been on-site since the equipment started arriving.

For Cox, public safety is his biggest concern because there is a high level of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

“It generally is a very well-run event. People have a great time and we typically experience very few problems out there,” Cox said. “I attribute that to a very high law enforcement presence.  I think because of that people realize it’s a safe place to go and we are out there to keep that away.”