RACES Members:
The County Fair staffing will be coordinated through Kathryn Levenson, our R/Sergeant of Operations. Her email address is cocosar41@aol.com.
We have three missions at the County Fair:
- Deploy, maintain and recover the cache portable radios used by all S.O. staff at the Fair.
- Deploy and maintain the video surveillance system used by the command post at the Fair.
- Search for lost children and parents and maintain custody of found children until they can be reunited.
We can use RACES assistance especially on the second two items. RACES personnel with special knowledge of video CCTV systems, or equipment they can loan us for the duration of the Fair, will be very helpful. Also, anyone that knows of a good source for obtaining our own permanent systems that are better than what we have will be much appreciated. We’re especially in need of longer range wireless cameras (1/2 to 1 mile would be great).
The most labor-intensive part of our duty is the third item, so most of your volunteers will be working on this duty. It requires the physical ability the walk throughout the Fairgrounds, sometimes for one or two hours, through heavy crowds; copy over the radio, remember and recognize child and parental physical descriptions; and to use the radio in high-noise environments. It also requires the temperament and personality to care for children and calm their fears. People without the ability to do that much walking can still be useful in the command post area, helping watch the kids, maintain the video surveillance system and relieving the ARC dispatcher or cache radio officer as needed.
Anyone available Wednesday, June 2nd is welcome to help us set up the command post, deploy the video system, etc., at the Fairgrounds, as well.
We generally run two shifts per day. One begins 30-60 minutes before the Fair opens for the day and runs until about 5:00 PM. The second shift begins about 4:00pm and runs until closing. We, of course, can easily accommodate those who must come late or leave early, due to work or other commitments. Kathryn will set up the shifts and coordinate staffing as we get closer to the dates.
We ask that everyone coming let Kathryn know in advance. And if they sign up, please show up. If something happens to prevent them from coming, please let myself or Kathryn know as soon as possible. At the time a person volunteers, I also ask that they let Kathryn know if a.) they must come later or leave earlier than the standard shift start and end times; or b.) will be non-patrol personnel; that is, working in the command post only. I must plan and report to the Sheriff’s command the number of teams we deploy each shift. I must also report how many people the chefs can expect for the outstanding dinners they provide. This is based on the number of people signed up for each shift. No-shows or unscheduled appearances make it more difficult to plan team assignments, manage the work load throughout the day and weekend, and provide accurate reports to the command staff.
Mike Patterson
N6JGA
Also, I’m sure all RACES personnel know this, but all Team leaders must remind their teams to please not bring family members and/or friends with you with the expectation they will get in free through the S.O. command post. Family members are welcome at the Fair, but they must go through the public lines and buy tickets. Apparently, there’s been a bit of an issue with this in the past.
