Monterey County Fairgrounds to boost security following deadly Garlic Fest shooting

Since the deadly shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday, staff at various venues on the Central Coast have been in close contact with law enforcement on how they can keep the same thing from happening at their venues.

Staff at the Monterey County Fairgrounds say they have to prepare for the worst considering how close Gilroy is to the area.

They’ll have to act quickly to re-adjust plans, too. The Scottish Games festival is this weekend and in late August, the annual County Fair.

“We want the public to feel safe,” says Monterey County Fair CEO, Kelly Violini. “This is a safe and secure environment.”

Monterey Police have notified staff to tighten up the perimeter of the fairgrounds for now and to add additional security personnel for each event.

“There’s been notifications on how we can improve our admissions process to get into the festival,” says Violini.

For the Monterey County Fair in late August, Violini says they will have police patrolling adjacent neighborhoods just as any other year, but with heightened awareness after the deadly Garlic Festival shooting.

Watsonville Police are adding security measures, too, including a command post at the city’s annual Strawberry Festival.

“As a society we need to stay strong and stand together against cowards who do these heinous acts,” says Watsonville Police Chief David Honda.

The Monterey County Fairgrounds, meanwhile, has ten exits attendees can go through in case of an emergency.

Violini says the mantra of “see something, say something” still applies in any case.

If someone sees something they think is suspicious, they should report it to staff or police immediately.