Police presence up around Bonnaroo campgrounds. How many arrests, citations issued?
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival formally kicked off June 12, but campers have been on The Farm since Tuesday.
It wasn't until the first day of music that attendees started to notice police, according to several social media posts.
In a video posted to a Bonnaroo fan Facebook page, police were seen checking car trunks and searching through canopies and tents. Festivalgoers reported seeing their tent neighbors get raided by as many as a half dozen police on ATVs.
Police were out in teams of two and three July 13 patrolling plaza 3 of the campgrounds. Ethan Wilson, a Nashville resident, said he was walking through the campground when he saw a tent get raided.
"I don't know if they found anything, but they went through the camp. Opened the tents. I guess they got a tip someone bought from them or something," Wilson said.
Manchester Police Department Assistant Chief Adam Floied said they've made eight arrests and issued 16 citations since June 12.
"The citations came from the campgrounds so that would be mostly drug citations," he said. "For the arrests, I know we've charged some people with drug crimes, but I think there was a fight or two so probably an assault charge too."
Capt. Billy Butler with the Coffee County Sheriff's Office deferred all questions to the Manchester Police Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol.
"We are business as usual and nothing to report. I would defer any comments to those agencies," he said.
Floied, though, said the Manchester Police Department is staffed the same as years past.
"Our presence has been the same as every year," he said. "The Sheriff's Office and the Drug Task Force have increased their presence in the campgrounds."
The shifting resources left a hole in traffic enforcement this year. Floied said normally traffic is handled by the Coffee County Sheriff's Office and since they're in the campgrounds, the city had to fill those spots.
"A lot of our traffic enforcement this year are employees from like the water department, codes, other departments," he said.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bonnaroo sees increased police presence: How many arrests, citations?
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