Indianapolis, Indiana – When the two-day WonderRoad Music Festival begins on Saturday afternoon, Garfield Park will be the first area with official backing from the local administration and a gun-free zone.
The second phase of Mayor Joe Hogsett’s citywide violence reduction policy includes these gun-free zones. When event planners decide to ban guns from their gatherings, the city offers further assistance for private events held in rented public venues.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department “will be on hand to provide added security before, during, and after this event,” the Democrat mayor stated during a news conference held in the park on Thursday.
Event planners must have a special event permit, a secure perimeter, a city-approved event map, staff to man entry and departure points, and use Evolv weapon-detection sensors, according to Aryn Schounce, director of Indianapolis government affairs.
It must be planned by a private event planner, according to Schounce. Therefore, we are now only permitted to proclaim Garfield Park a general “Gun Free Zone” in accordance with state law.
As attendees arrive at the festival, the Evolv sensors employ cameras and artificial intelligence to identify anyone carrying a gun.
People simply stroll through it. They refuse to remove their phones. They don’t pull out their keys. Anil Chitkara, a co-founder of Evolv Technology, claimed they never stop. They pass right past it, and the security operator is informed if the technology identifies a potential threat. The security team dealt with the threat, which had a picture of the perpetrator and a potential location.
The festival will draw between 14,000 and 15,000 attendees of all ages, according to organizers MOKB Presents and event management firm Elevation Group.
Elevation Festivals’ co-founder and chief operating officer, Steve Lindecke, claims that all of their events would prioritize safety. “We trust the twelve off-duty police officers who are present. Actually, all I want them to do is watch everything happen while standing on a hill with their arms crossed. That makes the weekend a success.
At a news conference on Thursday, city government officials declared their willingness to assist Marion County event planners in establishing “Gun Free Zones.”
At the end of May, Hogsett revealed the second stage of his plan to reduce gun violence. The Administration and Finance Committee of the Indianapolis City-County Council decided on Tuesday to approve financing for the hiring of three attorneys to bring federal charges against Marion County’s gun offenses.
The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee decided on Wednesday to add gun control measures to Indianapolis, but they wouldn’t take effect until a state rule prohibiting local governments from adopting gun laws was overturned.
