Pennington County Sheriff’s Office offers safety tips during Central States Fair

RAPID CITY, S.D. — It’s that time of year – time for the Centrals State’s Fair festivities.

But law enforcement say that before you head out and have a good time, there’s some safety practices to go over as a family.

First off, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office has deputies at the fair in their bright yellow shirts and are there to help.

Members of PCSO say that before you head out with the family, it’s a good idea to take a picture of your family in the event if someone gets lost at the fair.

Lt. Dustin Morrison with the sheriff’s office says that families should also have a rendezvous point to meet if anyone gets separated.

“Before coming out here, you could talk to your child and if you were to get misplaced from your child, you could tell him, ‘Hey, meet me at the sheriff’s office command post,’” Lt. Morrison said. “It’s a highly visible place here on the the midway of the fairgrounds and most everybody walks by it every time they come in here, so it’s a pretty common place where they could meet.”

Morrison says that helping lost children is one of the main things the sheriff’s office is called to do during the fair.