Metal detectors beef up security at OC Fair

Strolling into the Orange County Fair on Thursday evening, Mike Linares didn’t realize anything was different until he was emptying his pockets into a plastic tub and passing through what looks like a black door frame missing its door.

For the first time, the OC Fair is using walk-through metal detectors to screen every guest, staff member and vendor.

“I didn’t even notice them until I walked through,” said Linares, who has been going to the fair for years.

Several guests Thursday night said they barely took notice of the new safety measure.

“To be honest, I thought it was a good thing,” said Carly Hall, who was headed to a concert at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

She, like other guests, said she felt it was a wise decision, especially after so many recent high-profile incidents of violence in the United States and abroad.

But, Hall added, it’s a little sad that even the local fair feels it’s necessary to improve safety measures.

Fair officials said no specific incident prompted them to add the metal detectors. They’ve been gradually tightening security at the gates for years, they said.

Linares said he remembers when staff members started checking bags at entrances a few years ago. And last year, attendants had metal-detecting wands, said Nick Buffa, who oversees security at the fair.

The walk-through detectors are just one more layer to catch as many potential problems as possible, according to Buffa.

“The way we look at this is we like to prevent things from happening, as opposed to reacting to things,” he said.

Buffa said the new screening process makes lines at the entrances move a little slower but that guests generally understand.

“It’s the way of the world now,” he said.

He did have a piece of advice for fairgoers to help speed up the process: Leave any prohibited items at home.

Mostly, Buffa said, the metal detectors catch relatively innocuous items that aren’t allowed inside, such as bottles, cans, selfie sticks or a forgotten pocket knife.

“Then you have your illegal items — illicit drugs, anything that might be considered a weapon,” he said.

If the screening catches something that’s not allowed, attendants will give guests the choice of surrendering the item — in which case they won’t get it back — or leaving it in their car or another safe place until they depart.

A list of prohibited items is available at https://bit.ly/2agnoq9.

--

What: Orange County Fair

Where: OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

When: Through Aug. 14. Noon to midnight Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and Sundays.

Cost: $12 general admission; $7 for senior citizens 60 and older and children ages 6 to 12; free for children 5 and younger

Information: ocfair.com or (714) 708-1500

--

Jeremiah Dobruck, jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck