Church festivals increase security

Fencing around the grounds and an
admission fee are planned at one event.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — Church festivals aren’t what they used to be.

Problems at the St. Charles Church Festival last weekend and at St. Luke’s Church Festival last year prompted plans for increased security at two of this year’s upcoming church fetes.

It’s a symptom of what one police chief calls a changing community.

Mary Ellen Brannigan, co-chairwoman of St. Luke’s Festival, which runs July 12-15, said a fight erupted among a few people at last year’s event that caused other attendees to leave.

After that incident, church officials spoke to the police department, which made recommendations for crowd control.

“We’re going to have temporary chain-link fencing and an admission fee,” Brannigan said.

Those changes aren’t related to a fight at St. Charles last weekend where a 16-year-old boy is accused of carrying a gun. No shots were fired. The safety measures were planned before that incident, Brannigan said.

But the St. Charles incident prompted changes for the St. Christine Festival, which runs today through Sunday at the South Schenley Avenue church in Youngstown.

The Rev. David Rhodes, pastor of St. Christine’s, said security will be bumped up because of the problems at St. Charles.

A city police officer, who also is a parishioner, handles festival security.

In previous years, 15 to 20 officers worked the festival. There will be more officers this year.

Additionally, the police officer in charge of security spoke with township police to get information on the individuals who caused the problems at St. Charles.

If those individuals arrive at St. Christine’s, they’ll be told to leave, Father Rhodes said.

The festival also shortened its hours, ending at 11 each night, rather than at midnight, in an effort to discourage problems, the priest said.

Township Police Chief Patrick Berarducci believes problems like what occurred at St. Charles can be attributed to a township that’s in transition.

“People need to understand that this is not the Boardman of 20 years ago,” the chief said. “There are new dynamics and new problems, and we have to deal with it.”

The St. Luke’s fee, $3 for adults and children who aren’t accompanied by an adult, isn’t a money maker, Brannigan said. The fee is to limit the crowd and to pay for the fencing. Children 12 and younger who are accompanied by an adult will be admitted free.

Attendees will be directed through two entrances, one at South Avenue and a second from a parking area behind the church.

Berarducci wants to see even more stringent security implemented. He said he plans to meet with officials from St. Luke’s to discuss additional precautions.

“I’d like to see officers at each access point, scanning everybody with hand wands and checking everybody coming in,” he said.

He compared the level of security he envisions with what spectators at Cleveland Browns football games go through entering the stadium.

It would be the responsibility of church organizers to pay the officers who work off duty.

Brannigan said the festival committee will take any recommendations from the police department into consideration.

Plans for St. Luke’s

Similar to St. Christine’s, St. Luke’s Church Festival security is coordinated by a retired township officer who is also a church parishioner, she said.

Five police officers — four walking through the festival and one in the rectory — typically work the festival. Additional private security officers will also work this year, Brannigan said.

Berarducci also said he wants to again ask township trustees to buy a Taser for each officer.

“It’s a way for officers to subdue a suspect who is fighting without presenting a danger to himself or others,” the chief said.

At a meeting last month, Berarducci requested authorization from trustees to buy 12 of the devices. Trustees approved the purchase of six for $4,867.

Berarducci said he’ll be in the area of the St. Luke’s festival as he says he was during the St. Charles event.

“I noticed the type of people who were there, the number of people and the lack of police in the area,” he said.

He said he held officers over from the previous shift to ensure police could respond if needed. That’s why officers were able to respond so quickly when the call went out, he said.