Troopers Work KS State Fair & Preparedness Day at the Fair

Since last Friday, September 10, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers have been assigned duty at the Kansas State Fair. They are assisting with security and law enforcement duties on the fair grounds, and providing traffic control in the Hutchinson, Reno County area. State Fair duty provides our troopers a chance to interact directly with the public in a positive manner, and affords the public an opportunity to engage in question and answer sessions with our troopers.

Annually, the Kansas Highway Patrol has a booth set up at the fair, where you can go to ask questions and interact with troopers. Our booth is manned by our Public Resource Officers (PRO’s), who are stationed throughout the state, and are trained to provide safety programs on a wide variety of topics to schools, civic organizations, and others who request programs. Annually, the KHP booth provides a display focusing on a specific theme. The focus of our display this year is trailer requirements. We receive numerous questions throughout the year on the requirements to pull a trailer, and the lights required, thus this year we decided to focus our display on trailers to address as many concerns as possible. In addition to the display, the KHP also provides a variety of safety information at our booth. We invite you to drop by our booth located on Cottonwood Avenue to obtain some safety materials and visit with our troopers during your visit to the 2010 Kansas State Fair.

While at the fair, our officers assist with traffic control, respond to medical calls, help look for missing children, take reports on stolen items, respond to fights, and provide security at the grandstand events. To ensure that we also have adequate coverage in the outlying county areas, we have additional troopers from other areas of the state who travel to Hutchinson to help with this annual event.

Monday, Sept. 13 was Kansas Preparedness Day at the fair. During the event I spoke about what our agency does on a regular basis to help prepare for critical incidents which could occur in our state. This includes undergoing specialized training, participating in simulated exercises, and maintaining proficiency with a variety of essential equipment.

Kansas families have heard many times about the need to prepare for emergencies which can occur in the state. Weather concerns are a major part of preparedness in Kansas. Severe storms are a constant concern, as is the approaching winter weather season. There are other emergencies, such as fire, or motor vehicle crashes. Making sure their vehicles are prepped, their homes are equipped with an emergency kit, and their families have plans in order are a few of the things we point out all of the time. Some of this can be overwhelming, but it is necessary and will be helpful when a critical event does happen in your area. There is a helpful website: www.do1thing.us which gives you one thing to focus on accomplishing per month. At the end of the year, your family will be more prepared, and focusing on one task a month isn’t as overwhelming.

I encourage Kansas citizens to prepare for major events that could happen in our state—tornadoes, floods, fires, winter storms. We will be ready to respond and help with recovery when these events do happen. I also encourage you to visit us at the Kansas State Fair. We look forward to meeting the people we serve!