The only people who would be put off by plans for increased law enforcement presence at the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival are those who organizers – and local residents – don’t want around anyway.

Organizers of the festival, scheduled for June 8-11 at Clinton State Park, are calling in Kansas Highway Patrol troopers to help the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department monitor the festival grounds. Plans are to roughly double the number of officers patrolling the festival.

The main target is drug traffic. Last year, one death occurred at the festival due to a drug overdose, and officers impounded a car that contained a large amount of cash, suspected to be illegal drug proceeds. It was easy to see that the situation could easily get out of hand in a gathering of 14,000 to 15,000, mostly young music fans out to have a good time.

To his credit Brett Mosiman, the event organizer, recognized that the long-term success of the festival depends on “the fact that there aren’t big, organized drug dealers that are able to run free at these events.” Doubling the number of officers and the amount being spent on security for the festival is an effort to maintain a reasonably safe and pleasant atmosphere for attendees.

Mosiman realizes that some festival-goers “are likely to recoil a bit if they see too many uniforms” but the risk that some people may be offended by the law enforcement presence apparently was not as great as the risk of mischief that could occur without the additional security.

Given those options, most local residents and festival-goers would agree Mosiman made the right choice.