Officers at Minnesota State Fair are ‘walking information booths,’ new police chief says

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
·7 min read
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Ron Knafla is the Minnesota State Fair’s new police chief, but he’s no stranger to the Fair.

This is his 34th year working as an officer at the Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights, following in the footsteps of his father. As he grew up in St. Paul — first in the Cherokee Heights area and then on the East Side — he attended the Fair each year with his family.

“I just love the Fair,” he said recently. “I love the atmosphere. It’s one of those things that, after working out here for so many years, it kind of becomes a part of you.”

Like the longtime, late Fair Police Chief Art Blakey, Knafla is a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy when he’s not at working at the Fair — though being chief is a big job, it’s a part-time job. He’s a sheriff’s office commander and currently oversees the carjacking and auto theft unit.

The Fair’s General Manager Jerry Hammer appointed Knafla to his role in December 2021 in re-establishing the Fair’s own police department. That came after the previous police chief retired and the Fair disbanded the department earlier in 2021.

The Ramsey County sheriff’s office was in charge of security at the Fair last year. This year, the Fair Police Department is back at the helm with about 200 officers — 40 Ramsey County deputies, 30 Minnesota State Patrol troopers, and law enforcement from various agencies.

Knafla recently talked to the Pioneer Press about what keeps officers busiest at the Fairgrounds (hint: it’s not responding to serious incidents), his favorite part of the Fair, and his message to fairgoers about safety. The interview transcript is edited for clarity and conciseness:

How did you get started working at the Fair?

I’ve been working here for 34 years, since I became a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy. I was working at the jail, which is where all new deputies started, when I got a call from Art Blakey’s secretary. She said, “Hey, do you want to work at squad at the Fair?” I said, “Sure, sounds like fun.” My father also worked for the sheriff’s office (as did his grandfather). And my father worked for many, many, many years out here at the Fair, too.

Did you grow up attending the Fair?

I did. I have vivid memories of the Fair as a kid. We’d come out here every year with my parents. They liked to be out here shortly after the gates opened and they had their morning stops they had to make — my dad had to get an Orange Treet (like an Orange Julius drink) and my mom had to get mini donuts. We’d stay out here ’til late at night to see Midway lights and the fireworks, and just make a day of it and enjoy the Fair.

It’s a tradition I carried on with my kids, even though I would be working out here. I would always take a day and come out with my kids in the morning and spend the day with them and enjoy the Fair as a guest and then go to work in the evening.

What’s your favorite part of the Fair?

That’s not a fair question! There’s some officers out here that I’ve worked with for 20 or 30 years now — they come back every year. About 80 percent of the officers with the State Fair Police Department are returning. You build relationships out here, not just with the police officers from the other agencies, but also the full-time State Fair staff, the part-time staff, the food vendors and some of the other vendors that are here year after year.

It’s almost like a big family reunion every year for these 12 days because sometimes you only see these people during the Fair.

Are there things you learned from Chief Blakey that you’re carrying on?

I don’t know if I could compare myself to Art Blakey. One of the things that I think anybody who knew him would say was he was one of the nicest guys in the world. He gave a lot of people an opportunity to get into law enforcement by working at the Fair. Just being nice to people and giving people an opportunity are important lessons I learned from Art Blakey.

Can you explain where the approximately 200 officers who work at the Fair come from?

The State Fair Police Department is a little bit unique. We have about 20 officers that we hire as State Fair police officers, where we are their primary license holder with the POST board (Minnesota Board of Peace Officers Standards and Training).

The remaining officers work for another agency somewhere in Minnesota and their (peace officer) license is held by that agency and we become a secondary license holder. We have officers from over 55 different police departments or sheriff’s offices in the state.

Do the 20 people who are only State Fair officers have non-law enforcement jobs during the rest of the year?

Some of them do. Some of them are retired officers who still want to serve. The Fair is, by far, the greatest event for us because of the interaction with people.

How do you prepare officers to work during the Fair?

Typically, we try to pair up officers that have worked the Fair before with officers who haven’t. After a few days, they get pretty comfortable with knowing the grounds.

We have foot-patrol zones, which divides up the Fairgrounds, and the officers need to know what permanent buildings are in those areas, as well as key points of interest. We give them information about what to do if there’s a medical emergency or severe weather, and a number of other things.

What do officers get approached about the most?

We’re pretty much walking information booths out here. People ask us how to find places — parking lots, particularly accessible ones, where buses drop off and pick up. Between that and lost kids and medicals, particularly heat-related, I’d say that’s the bulk of what we do out here.

One of the neat things is all the officers are allowed to wear their home agency uniforms, so you’ll see police or sheriff’s office uniforms from many agencies. People will look for officers from their hometowns to say “Hello” to.

I know in 2019 and last year on the final nights of the Fair, there were more serious incidents around closing time, including a fight just outside the Fairgrounds in 2019 with three young men wounded by gunfire. Have those last nights been times of trouble previously?

There are little issues here and there during the Fair, but over the years of working here, there hasn’t been a history of the last night being a huge problem. Those two years are hopefully not a sign of the times now. Either way, we’re prepared.

How would you recommend that people coming to the Fair this year assess their own safety?

Whether it’s a fair or anywhere else, you have to be paying attention to your surroundings and what’s going on around you. I have teenage daughters and I constantly have to remind them, “When you’re walking down the sidewalk or walking across a parking lot, get your face out of your phone, put your phone in your pocket and pay attention.” I think that’s one of the key things to keeping yourself safe anywhere.

You can come to the Fair feeling confident that we’ve got your safety and security taken care of. The officers love chatting with folks, high-fiving kids and taking pictures, so please approach us.

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