Students Keep Police Busy in Carnival-Like Palm Springs

Thousands of students on spring break swarmed into this desert resort during the weekend, creating gridlock and a carnival atmosphere along downtown thoroughfares, but sparking no major problems.

Local police, supported by 60 officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol, had made 139 arrests and issued 700 citations--most of them alcohol-related--by nightfall Saturday.

“We’re super busy, but all in all it’s been a typical spring break,” Police Lt. Lee Weigel said. “The kids are having fun, but basically seem pretty well-behaved.”

The vacationing youths spent much of Saturday baking in the sun beside swimming pools, but at dusk, they flooded the city’s main drag, Palm Canyon Drive, parading up and down in their suntans and skimpy clothing.

“This here is entertainment,” marveled John Barnhart, 70, of Westminster, as he leaned against a storefront and watched a stream of rowdy young people frolic by.

“Too bad we can’t turn back the clock, huh?” Barnhart’s wife, Esther, 71, added as a pickup truck full of men hooted at a bikini-clad trio of blondes strolling by.

More than 100,000 college and high school students are expected to spend their Easter vacation in Palm Springs this month. The crowd flocking in for the annual rite of spring has grown steadily since 1986 when a near-riot erupted downtown.

Since then, city officials have beefed up police patrols, tightened traffic laws and adopted other get-tough measures to deter would-be revelers.

The tactics seem to be working, but the bill for outside law enforcement help has increased markedly and this year is expected to reach $358,000.

To help cover this cost, police Friday began slapping each person cited during spring break with an additional $15 fee to pay for the police power spent writing tickets. Those arrested and booked into jail are billed $65.

“This (stinks),” said Dean Dodson, 20, of La Verne, who got a ticket after allegedly making an illegal lane change on his motorcycle. “My brother’s a lawyer and I plan to fight this thing.”