Coachella security cracks down on fake IDs
Another opening weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has wrapped up, but not without incident. The Indio Police Department reports a total of 128 arrests were made, up from 93 in the festival’s first weekend of 2015.
One thing officers are cracking down on this year is underage drinking.
Many know that Coachella is one big party, and as with most parties, alcohol is usually involved. But Sgt. Dan Marshall with the Indio Police Department said this year, more than ever, officers are making sure minors aren’t joining the party early.
The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival gets bigger every year.
“Weekend one was the highest attended festival to date from my experience,” said Sgt. Marshall.
More people can lead to more problems. And police said 35 more arrests were made during opening weekend this year because they’re stepping up enforcement. In particular, Sgt. Marshall said officers are cracking down on fake IDs.
“We were looking at underage drinking, if you looked at the numbers, we had 20 more minors in possession of a fake ID this time than last time,” Sgt. Marshall added.
The police department works with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to keep the event safe. If a minor is caught with a fake ID, it can be a misdemeanor resulting in at least a $250 fine, and/or up to 32 hours of community service.
Sgt. Marshall said another issue is that people attending the festival forget to drink water while they’re drinking alcohol.
“If we start having a lot of medical issues like dehydration, then that really stresses our resources because we need police officers to respond to people in medical distress,” Marshall said.
And with thousands of visitors in town, police really just want everyone to be safe.
Sgt. Marshall concluded by saying, “We want people to come out, have a great time, drink responsibly, stay hydrated, and put on sunscreen.”
On Thursday, the campground reopens for the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. So if you’re traveling, get ready for the second round of heavy traffic.
