TAMPA, Fla. — Thousands of teenagers attended the Florida State Fair on Friday for student day. Sheriff Chad Chronister said 67,000 students were at the fairgrounds.
With that amount of people enjoying rides and fair food, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deployed members of its Community Action Team (CAT) to promote safety.
This comes after a teenager was killed in 2014 on student day. Andrew Joseph III was kicked out of the fair and killed by a car while trying to cross I-4 in the dark.
Joseph's family believes the fair is a dangerous place for kids. In response to the sheriff's office deploying volunteers for student day, Joseph's mother released this statement to 10 Tampa Bay:
"The police at the fair is a danger to our children. They are relentless in criminalizing our children and we can’t afford the service they provide such as targeting, unjustified searching and seizure. We can’t afford another removal of a child-like they did Andrew Joseph, III from the student day at the fair. Police don’t keep us safe, we as a community keep us safe."
Joseph's parents filed a lawsuit against the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, School Board and School District along with the Florida State Fair.
Chronister told 10 Tampa Bay if a child gets in trouble, they will contact their parents to make sure they get home safe.
“We’re going to take custody of you and make sure you get into their car and get home safe," he explained.
Chronister emphasized it wasn't just deputies at the fairgrounds. The CAT involves familiar faces in the community.
“Student resource officers are out here, faith-based members, the NAACP leader is out here," the sheriff said. "Anyone I feel is important to our children is out here volunteering their time."
The sheriff stressed it's important for parents to be involved and make sure they know where their child is.
“You make sure that you’re there or someone you trust is there. Don’t leave the parenting to us," Chronister added.
Additional safety measures were in place to make sure students were staying out of trouble. The sheriff's office stated all students had to be supervised by an adult over the age of 21 after 6 p.m.