State fair siphons a third of police protection from rest of city

Each year in September, the population of one part of Oklahoma City swells by hundreds of thousands for 11 days. In 2006, a million people attended the 100th State Fair of Oklahoma " and this year, it's expected that the Centennial Expo version of the state fair will top 1 million in attendance.

All patrolled by Oklahoma City police officers on almost 700 shifts. While a small number of these officers are off-duty, the majority of them are drawn from on-duty officers, decreasing police manpower by as much as 30 percent.

"It's a double-edged sword," said Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Kirby. "It's an event that is occurring in our city that we have to give protection to. "¦ At the same time, we don't want to lower the level of response on the street to the rest of our citizens."

POPULATION SHIFT
Who is paying for it? Not the state fair, a private 501(c)(3) entity. Oklahoma City taxpayers are. Why does the fair get a free ride?

According to state fair spokesman Scott Munz, the massive influx of people to the fair is a strong enough reason that Oklahoma City should provide police presence at no cost to the fair.

"There is a population shift within the city out to here, to the 435 acres during the fair, and the police come out here to provide a safe and secure environment, just like they would anywhere else in the city," Munz said. "Ben Fenwick

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