Board Votes to Beef Up Security at County Fair : Safety: Officials want to keep problems at next month’s event to a minimum. About $300,000 will be spent for police officers, deputies and private guards.

Hoping to keep the Ventura County Fair safe for families and other visitors, fair board officials said Tuesday that they plan to spend up to $300,000 for police officers and security guards at the annual event, which opens next month.

Police said they will continue a ban on gang attire and will watch for gang members on probation who try to enter the fair.

“We have a very pro-active approach to keeping problems to a minimum,” Fair General Manager Michael Paluszak said. “We want to make sure people feel comfortable coming here.”

Last year, 274,527 people attended the Ventura County Fair. Only 16 people were arrested during the 12-day event, primarily for minor offenses such as public drunkenness, police said.

Only one minor scuffle between rival gangs broke out, and police said it was one of the quietest fairs ever.

Fair officials said they want to keep it that way--by spending about $150,000 for Ventura police officers, and another $150,000 for Ventura County sheriff’s deputies on horseback and about 150 private security workers for crowd control. The fair draws the largest crowds in the county.

Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman said there will be no changes in how police handle the event, which is scheduled Aug. 18 to 29.

Last year, officers did not allow people wearing gang attire to enter the fair. About 200 gang members on probation were assigned early curfews and were prohibited from attending the fair after 8 p.m. Another 50 gang members were barred from attending because probation officers feared that they could cause trouble.

This year, the curfew may begin at 6 p.m. for some gang members, said Michele Konkle, a deputy probation officer who supervises serious habitual juvenile offenders. Other gang members may not be allowed to go at all if they have a history of getting into trouble at the fair, she said.

“I take each case separately, and assess it, and I’ll decide whether they can go to the fair at all,” Konkle said. “The problems have usually not surfaced as long as the hard-core gang members are not at the fairgrounds after dark. They think they can hide easier and run faster under the cloak of darkness.”

Konkle said she supports the ban on gang attire because it will make rival gang members “less recognizable to each other.”

“They can still flash gang signs,” she noted. “If they’re out there looking for trouble, they’re going to find it. All they have to do is flash a sign, and the war is on.”

Bowman said police presence at the fair will range from 18 to 24 officers, depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend night.

Officers patrol the 62-acre grounds, doing everything from herding stray sheep to watching for fights. Some are in plainclothes, looking for shoplifters and gang members.

“We want a boring fair,” Bowman said.