This is unrelated, but i found it interesting.
Police Union Urges Members To Boycott San Diego Fair
Union Concerned Over Weapons Ban For Off-Duty Personnel
POSTED: 10:10 am PDT May 26, 2005
UPDATED: 11:30 am PDT May 26, 2005
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SAN DIEGO -- The president of Escondido's police union says he will urge the city's officers to boycott the 2005 San Diego County Fair because of a policy barring entry by off-duty law enforcement personnel carrying weapons.
Paul Woodward, president of the Escondido Police Officers' Association, sent a letter Wednesday to the Del Mar Fairgrounds board expressing his concern over the weapons ban, which was implemented for the first time last year by the 22nd District Agricultural Association, which oversees the fairgrounds.
Fairgrounds spokeswoman Linda Zweig said Thursday the policy was created to provide a "safer environment for families," but Woodward said the policy actually imperils safety.
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"As president of the Escondido Police Officers' Association, I will be encouraging our members and all San Diego law enforcement and their families not to attend the 2005 Del Mar Fair," Woodward wrote.
Woodward said professionally trained sworn officers now have the authority to carry weapons across state lines in the United States and even aboard commercial aircraft.
"I find it difficult to believe that in this age of post-9/11 terrorism and with threats of terrorism constantly looming over us, you would make such policies," Woodward wrote.
Timothy J. Fennell, general manager of the 22nd District Agriculture Association, which oversees the Del Mar Fairgrounds, sent a letter May 6 to the San Diego County Chiefs Association reminding all local law enforcement agencies of a policy that bars off-duty officers from carrying weapons into the county fair, which runs June 10 to July 4.
The wording of Fennell's letter was ambiguous, appearing to vaguely suggest that the policy was inspired by the sheriff's department.
"At the request of the Sheriff's Department, I want to take this opportunity to ask the County Chiefs Association to remind all the county's law enforcement agencies that the 22nd District Agricultural Association ... has a policy of now allowing any weapons into the fairgrounds during the run of the 2005 San Diego County Fair," Fennell wrote in the letter.
"The San Diego County Fair uses metal detectors to screen all its patrons and the district's weapon prohibition policy also precludes off-duty officers from carrying a firearm into the fairgrounds," Fennell wrote.
Asked to elaborate Thursday, both sheriff's and fairground officials said the sheriff's department did not originate the policy and that the department had only asked the the fair board to remind other law enforcement agencies of it.
"The sheriff's department did not ask us to implement this policy. This is something the 22nd District Agricultural Association decided to implement," Zweig said. "The sheriff's department simply asked us to inform other agencies in the county that we are implementing the policy again this year."
Zweig said armed deputies in and out of uniform patrolling the county fair provide sufficient security.
"We're simply implementing a policy that's in effect at other family venues such as Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Legoland, Dodger and Angel stadiums and other locations," Zweig said. "It's a safer alternative all the way around."
Sheriff's spokesman Glenn Revell said the decision of whether off-duty law enforcement officer should attend the fair unarmed is a personal choice.
"I understand the the policy will make some of my law enforcement colleagues uncomfortable, but they need to make the personal choice of whether that will preclude them from attending the fair or not," Revell said. "Some officers may be offended by it, while others will attend without hesitation, but this is not a policy that we created."
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