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Law enforcement keeping a close eye on spectators at Okeechobee Music Festival

Posted at 8:34 PM, Mar 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-02 21:11:55-05

40,000 people are expected to descend on Okeechobee County this weekend for the 2nd annual Okeechobee Music Festival. 

In the middle of all those fans are hundreds of law enforcement personnel making sure every festival goer is safe and sound.

That process starts before festival goers even get through the gate. 

At last year's festival 70 people were arrested, most of those arrests drug related. 

This year, fans will be allowed the second guess a bad decision, with amnesty bins sitting at every entrance, allowing attendees to drop their drugs without consequence. 

At least one person took a chance. 

“We've already confiscated a pound of cocaine out here,” says Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen.

For everyone else, law enforcement says they're waiting with a 2 pronged approach. 

First, your car is searched by a private company hired by festival security. 

“They're searching for bottles and different things that they're not supposed to have them here and they're doing a two minute search," Sheriff Stephen says.

Then the sheriff's office searches. 

“If we do see some suspicious activity we’re pulling some people by the wayside,” the sheriff says. “We're running narcotics dogs through the traffic, and if the narcotics dog detects something on that vehicle were searching that vehicle.” 

Inside the property, 5 agencies will patrol to make sure things are under control throughout the weekend.