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PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

SERVE AND PROTECT. Two Tacoma police officers assigned to cover the Out in the Park event at Lincoln Park July 12.

Public safety at festivals a matter of much planning

By John Larson

Many area residents enjoy attending the large festivals held around town, especially during the summer. Ensuring public safety is a matter of much planning. The number of problems that occur certainly varies based on the general atmosphere of an event, the day of the week, weather and other factors.

Sgt. Rob Jepson from Tacoma Police Department (TPD) is the point person for the department when it comes to security planning for festivals. During the July 10 meeting of Tacoma City Council’s Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee, he gave a review of some of the recent big events in town.

Taste of Tacoma, the annual food festival held in late June in Point Defiance Park, went well the first day and the third day. The second day, June 28, was a Saturday. Jepson said that is when problems emerged.

After 6 p.m., large numbers of gang members began to show up. Members of TPD’s gang unit were on hand to monitor their actions, he said. When food booths began shutting down around 9 p.m., a fight involving about 20 gang members broke out on Pearl Street just outside the park. Jepson said it took officers about two hours to clear all the gang members from the area.

Assistant Chief Bob Sheehan noted that 600 gang members is a large number to show up at an event in Tacoma.

Jepson said the situation could have been worse, especially if the gang members had become unruly in the park when it was crowded with patrons. “If something had gone wrong in the park we would have been outnumbered,” he told the committee.

“Saturday night at the Taste is not a good day,” he added.

Jepson suggested the festival might be better off in a different location. “Maybe Taste of Tacoma is too big for that park,” he said.

“That location is not a good location,” Sheehan added.

Tall Ships Tacoma, in contrast, went much better. “Tall Ships went great the whole time,” Jepson said.

Police had to attend to a few cases of missing or lost children. On the last day of the event, a Monday, there was a minor issue with the police having a section of ‘A’ Street between South 10th and South 11th streets blocked off, which they had been using as a form of command post. As people returned to work at downtown office buildings after the long holiday weekend, Jepson said this created some issues, but police were able to reconfigure their set up.

Jepson said a temporary fence installed along a section of the railroad tracks on Ruston Way was a plus during Freedom Fair, the annual Fourth of July celebration. There were four or five people who jumped over it, he noted.

Ten people were arrested for fighting or assorted misconduct. The most serious incident was a person who received an assault charge.

Another 10 were evicted from the event under a new trespassing rule put in place shortly before the event. All 10 who were kicked out had this occur after 6 p.m., and none of them returned to the festival, Jepson said. All of those incidents occurred between Dickman and Jack Hyde Park.

The 25 officers from other law enforcement agencies in the area who were brought in to work the event enjoyed it, according to Jepson. “It was not bad enough to keep them away,” he remarked.

He discussed how he collaborates with Metro Parks event coordinator Phedra Redifer in planning security for festivals that involve Metro Parks properties.

Contacted after the meeting, Redifer explained that meetings are held every Tuesday to plan security, logistics and other matters related to public events, which she and Jepson attend.

“We make sure public safety is number one on our priority list,” she said.

Taste of Tacoma is organized by Festivals, Inc., a major event promoter. She could not say whether the promoter has a different location in mind for the future, but did point out attendance has been growing each year. A post-event review for the Taste is held each September, and if that is a topic of concern it would come up then, she said. “There are always opportunities to discuss changes.”

Redifer said there were no crowd control issues she was aware of for last year’s event. Both Tacoma and Ruston police officers keep close tabs on the entrance to Point Defiance, she said. “They were definitely watching. We were definitely prepared.”

The number of officers assigned to an event is ultimately up to TPD. Redifer said she accepts their decisions on this matter since they are the experts in maintaining orderly conduct.

During Out in the Park, held July 12 in Lincoln Park, two officers were patrolling the festival. Redifer said TPD felt that was an appropriate number given the size of crowd and the general atmosphere. “It was wildly successful and very family-oriented,” she said. “They were extremely pleased with their new venue.” (The festival organizer had to move the event from its traditional home in Wright Park because of renovations at that location).

The next major festival is Ethnic Fest, held the last weekend of July in Wright Park. Redifer said Metro Parks and the police are finalizing the details of the security plan.

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