Some residents denied access to their homes at La Quinta Ridge

Weekend two of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival begins Friday.

While the festival is great for the local economy, it can be particularly hard on those who live near it, especially when they’re told they aren’t allowed to get into their home.

Beau Texter lives next door to the polo grounds and says for three years he’s had problems with police officers not allowing him to enter his home during the festival.

“Seniors don’t need to be cussed at, they don’t need to be bullied and threatened. What’s so hard with saying ‘OK, you’ve got a pass, go straight through?'” Texter said.

This past weekend his nephew, who lives next door, was denied entrance to the park.

“The cop tells him, no you can’t go through there, and of course he’s deaf so it’s real hard to communicate. But from the gist of what I saw he wrote to the guy, the cop got nasty with him and told him it didn’t matter, his sticker that we’re given to get through did not matter to him,” Texter said.

One of Texter’s neighbors said an officer crumpled up her pink pass when she tried to enter the mobile home park on foot.

The Indio Police Department said they’re taking these complaints very seriously.

“The residents and their access to their home is the most important thing. If a person says I live there they’re gonna go there,” Indio Public Information Officer Dan Marshall said.

Texter said the problem is not with the local law enforcement but with the other agencies brought in from out of town.

“The passes that are given to us are the only thing from Coachella so that our lives are not interrupted. Yet they’re still interrupted, we’re still bullied, we’re still cussed at, we’re still treated like we don’t belong, but we belong here more than they do because we’ve been here a lot longer than they have,” Texter said.

On the pass there is a hotline number for residents to call with problems.

Texter said it’s no help.

However, Indio Police Department said every officer and guard is now aware of the issue.

“During the festival on every music day, twice a day there is a production meeting with the promoter, law enforcement, the officer in charge, myself, all the community relations people, all the department heads from all the places, all the security guard company’s managers are all in at that meeting. And at that time is when all of these issues and concerns are dealt with,” Marshall said.

The best thing residents who live in the area can do would be to make sure they have their pass on them and if they encounter problems immediately call the hotline number at 760-391-4112.