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Plaza Art Fair sees increased security this year

Posted at 10:13 PM, Sep 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-23 23:14:10-04

The Plaza Art Fair kicked off Friday night with increased security as organizers expected several hundred thousand people to attend the event.

While not disclosing the amount of officers monitoring the event this year, the Kansas City Police Department said it planned to have both uniformed and plain-clothes officers keeping an eye on safety.

"They have backups. They have command posts. There's going to be, I imagine, a ton of cameras," explained former FBI agent Michael Tabman. "I think it's pretty detailed. The police are ready for anything. The threat seems to go up every year."

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With so many threats to keep track of nowadays, Tabman said event goers should be most cautious of quick street crimes.

"I think it's more pickpocketing or maybe someone casually walking away with your bag when you've taken your eyes off of it," he said. "The opportunity is great. You have a lot of people who are not paying attention. You're in a crowd. You're going to get pushed and shoved a lot."

On Friday night, event goers like Wayne Schmidt were aware of the chances of being pickpocketed.

"There's a lot of people," said Schmidt, who came from Olathe to attend the event. "It's shoulder to shoulder. The only thing I'm keeping track of is my wallet in my back pocket."

With increased security this year for the fair, other event goers said they were not worried about safety at the event.

"I think it's fantastic," explained Sharon Piper, who was visiting from Detroit. "How could you not feel safe? You're just with your friends and having a good time."

Despite the event happening less than a week after terror attacks in New Jersey, New York, and Minnesota, Tabman said Kansas City remains a safe city for large events.

However, he said event goers could take simple steps to stay safe this weekend.

"(Terrors attacks are) something we have to stay alert for, but no more or no less so whenever we're out in public these days," he explained. "Stay alert. If you see something, say something."

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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.

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