IMPD: Law enforcement officers prepared as Indy 500 set to return to full capacity
Racing fans and Indianapolis residents can expect an increase in law enforcement presence as the Indianapolis 500 returns Sunday.
About 300,000 spectators are expected to be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in what is the world's largest sporting event, said Josh Barker, deputy chief of operations with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
The day before, the AES 500 Festival Parade is expected to draw around 200,000 people to downtown Indianapolis at noon.
"We are relying on and working with our federal partners as well as many other state and local agencies to help us,” Barker said of keeping the community safe during the weekend events. “There's one piece that commonly gets overlooked and that's our volunteers and our community. A big part of our public safety plan relies heavily on the community.”
The 106th Running of the #Indianapolis500 is almost a week away 🏁🏁
Here are 5️⃣ things you need to know to plan a safe and enjoyable race day@IMS @VisitIndy @SpeedwayPD pic.twitter.com/3FHs2NqN16— IMPD (@IMPDnews) May 21, 2022
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Barker encouraged anyone who sees suspicious activity to report it to law enforcement.
"How do you know if something is suspicious? If you observe something and go, 'Hmmm, that seems suspicious' then it's suspicious,” Barker said. “There are going to be a number of uniformed officers who I implore you to flag down and share those observations with."
Without citing exact numbers, Barker said the staffing of officers will be increased for the race events, specifically in downtown Indianapolis and Speedway. Residents in the city will not notice any interruption in normal police operations, he said.
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Planning for the Indy 500 and the parade is a year-long planning process to ensure the safety of attendees, Barker said.
"We are two years removed from people actually being able to visualize what the northwest and west side of Indianapolis is going to look like,” Barker said. “Figure out how you are going to get there."
Racing fans need to plan how they will get to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of time and leave plenty of time to arrive at the events they would like to attend, Barker said.
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The victims killed and families impacted by a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school Tuesday is weighing heavily on the minds of law enforcement officers as they prepare to protect the Indianapolis community this weekend, Barker said.
“Our plans are tailor made for contingencies like the tragedy that occurred in Texas...,” Barker said. “Our presence will be very overt. We want our community to see our officers are present and there to assist them.”
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500 2022: Law enforcement preps for IMS return to full capacity
