This week, all eyes are on the contestants in brightly colored dresses flashing gleaming smiles, but the unsung heroes of the Miss Mississippi pageant wear simple tan and black.

Warren County deputies and Vicksburg police officers keep the pageant safe by providing security during rehearsals, meals, and the contest.

“It’s no different from RiverFest or a large high school ball game. You’re expecting a lot of people, and it’s in a public venue and there’s always the remote possibility that something could happen that is disruptive,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

Every minute contestants are in the Vicksburg Convention Center or out on the town — such as at Monday’s parade — they have a law enforcement escort led by Warren County Sgt. Leroy Williams.

“It’s a tremendous responsibility on the pageant staff and on the community as a whole to provide a safe environment for an event that has been in Vicksburg since 1958 and has received nation-wide attention for the professionalism of this pageant organization,” Pace said.

See the parade Monday? There were plenty of law enforcement officers there. Same with the following autograph parties.

“We partner with the police department to secure events that they have off sight such as autograph parties,” Pace said.

Sheriff’s deputies who are assigned to court services and special events are staffing the pageant along with Vicksburg police officers who are pulling overtime to cover the event.

“We have people working overtime. Much of what we do outside the normal routine of the city goes into overtime,” Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.

The city has also upped the number of officers on patrol and will continue with an increased presence through Independence Day weekend.

“We want to make sure that everything goes well, and the way we do that is putting extra manpower on the streets during the time the pageant is going,” Armstrong said. “These are probably the two biggest details that we have, the pageant and the Fourth of July fireworks display.”