Last week’s program was provided by Rotarian Alan Kicklighter. Alan’s guest speaker was head of security at the Florida Strawberry Festival, Tim Lovett.
Tim Lovett is a lifelong resident of Plant City, and has a 28-year record of outstanding service with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. During his career, Lovett worked in undercover operations, street crimes, long-term narcotics investigations and, most recently, courthouse security. Tim has been with the Strawberry Festival for 4 years. The safety of the hundreds of thousands of guests that come to Plant City’s 11-day festival every year is a top priority — one they’ll maintain in a world where the unimaginable can become a reality in the blink of an eye. Added safety measures include pre-registering vehicles on the grounds and promoting pedestrian safety, the festival’s security leaders are ensuring that guests are well-protected.
Annually, the festival spends about $500,000 on security, and partners with both the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Plant City Police Department. To keep guests safe, vehicles won’t be allowed inside the grounds during the festival’s operating hours and will have restricted access during closed hours. Largely, the vehicles that come on the grounds after festival hours are for festival vendors who need to work on their booths and restock supplies. The goal of Festival security is to make the Festival a “hard” target…making it as difficult as possible for someone to do any kind of damage.
Other security features include; “wanding” guests and checking bags so they know what is coming into the festival, checking for weapons…weapons are allowed in the festival with a permit. Permits are run through a database to be sure it is valid and then gives security a record as to who has a weapon on the grounds.
Plant City Police Department takes care of the exterior of the festival while the Hillsborough County Sheriff Office is in charge of the interior. The Festival security works with the Tampa Bay Intelligence Center that gives great information on any “chatter”, information that may affect the festival. They also make the Festival security aware of any dignitaries are on the grounds or protesters. There is no alcohol on the grounds which makes a huge difference in fewer incidents. Thirty-seven camera’s and fiber optics make observing all areas of the festival possible. The festival has a great relationship with PCPD and the HCSO that makes the Festival very secure!
--submitted by Mike Arndt
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