Indio Police Department prepares for festival rush

Indio Police Department has been preparing for months on end for festival season.

The valley is expected to host more than 100,00 festivalgoers with Weekend One of Coachella kicking off in less than 10 days on Friday, April 12.

We spoke with Indio Police Department's Chief Brian Tully about the preparations that are underway.

"I always try and be extra cautious especially around festival season," said Bermuda Dunes resident, Andrew Hughs who anticipates backups this time of year.

Meanwhile Indio’s Police Department is getting ready to patrol thousands of festivalgoers while meeting the city’s needs. 

Indio Police Department officials tell me that during this busy time of year they outsource help from fourteen different agencies that are both local and federal.

Along with outsourcing, the department reaches out to law enforcement agencies globally to exchange festival enforcement strategies. 

"We've talked to Las Vegas Metro Police, their tragedy that occurred at route 91. We discussed a number of challenges that they faced and we've incorporated some of the safety measures that they learned at their event," said Indio Police Chief, Brian Tully.

Throughout festival season IPD has a separate incident command system to serve the festival grounds.

"We continue to provide the exact same service to the city of Indio, we treat it as we normally do. And then when the festivals comes in, we treat it as a second city," added Chief Tully.

Though traffic is inevitable, roadways like Jefferson, Monroe and Jackson have undergone a facelift this year to help traffic flow more freely.

The city of Indio has also decided to close Avenue 50 for the month of April for overall safety. 

Chief Tully added, "The traffic that goes through 50 goes actually 50 miles an hour."

Officials also ask that residents use the non-emergency line or use the department's website to fill out minor reports about noise complaints or lost items including keys and wallets.