145 officers to travel from around state
CAMDEN — Police will arrive in record numbers for the Carolina Cup Saturday, even though Easter is expected to damper attendance at the race this year.
In all, 145 officers will descend on the Springdale Race Course this year, an unprecedented level of law enforcement presence for the event, Camden police Chief Joe Floyd said.
Doing so requires a statewide effort.
To hit those enforcement levels, 17 police departments will send officers to Camden, an increase of five from last year. Among the new arrivals: officers from Clemson University and Columbia police.
They’ll buttress Camden’s relatively small police force, which employs 28 officers; if they’re not on regular duty, they’ll all be at the race.
For Camden police, Floyd said, it’s “no doubt” the biggest day of the year.
Because there are so many outside officers coming in, Floyd said, Kershaw County sheriffs won’t be there.
Instead, they’ll focus on what’s going outside, particularly drunken driving coming into and leaving the course, Floyd said.
Inside, the state’s Law Enforcement Division will also send more agents specializing in alcohol enforcement, according to Floyd.
Those officers, along with others from agencies that have experience working with college students, will focus their efforts on College Park, Floyd said, which fills with about 15,000 students that arrive in a convoy of charter buses from across the state and North Carolina.
Police will also have undercover officers and a pair of elevated cameras watching that area, Floyd said.
Still, he said, police aren’t looking to bust underage drinking but to keep things under control.
Columbia police and USC’s Division of Law Enforcement and Safety will send 15 and six officers, respectively.
“The focus has to be on the troublemakers,” Floyd said. “We only have so many officers there to deal with so many people. If you’re dealing with a minor situation over here, then you’re running the risk of a major situation going on over there.”
If they do get involved, officers will have three options, Floyd said: eject them, write a ticket, or take them to jail.
“At this event, if you get locked up, you put yourself in that position,” Floyd said.
USC students can also be written up with the Office of Student Conduct without other penalties, said Capt. Eric Grabski, a spokesman for USC police. All arrests or tickets will be forwarded to the office as well.
The conglomeration of officers will be joined by about 50 firefighters and paramedics, who will set up two field hospitals — one in College Park and one in the infield.
For the most part, Floyd said he doesn’t expect other police departments to charge the city for its officers’ work, but staffing the event comes at a cost.
Camden’s City Council OK’d $25,000 to pay for police and other expenses related to Carolina Cup, Floyd said.
But race organizers say the race, now in its 81st year, is a boon for the area, generating about $4.5 million in economic impact.
That’s because the town of about 7,000 will swell Saturday with more than 65,000 visitors, and for race organizers like Teri Teed, that means it’s crunch time.
Teed, the assistant director of the Carolina Cup Racing Association, has been working all but 24/7 for the last week, and she won’t stop until the race is done and the attendees are gone.
Among organizers’ responsibilities, she said: maintaining about 600 acres; decorating the area with colors from last year’s race winner; putting up a 50-by-110-foot VIP tent (a three-week project); pitching a slew of other tents, including 99 in College Park alone; and dealing with whatever issues emerge Saturday.
“That’s a test of a really good event — to make it look like it goes smoothly — because no event does behind the scenes,” Teed said.