Draggin' Main festival cruises into weekend

Clovis' annual Draggin' Main festivities continue through Saturday night, highlighted with the cruise across the bricks of Main Street wrapping up around midnight.

Clovis police will be there to remind the car enthusiasts: safety first.

"The Clovis Police Department has always been supportive of events such as these, which draw our community together," Clovis Deputy Police Chief Trevor Thron wrote in an emailed response to questions from The News.

"(O)ur goal is for it to be successful for the organizers and fun for the community. As always, we will be there to stress safety and make sure that participants are adhering to our local and state laws."

Thron said he views Draggin' Main as an opportunity for police officers to "mix and mingle" with the public on a more personal level, "which is something we always enjoy."

But with thousands of motorists and pedestrians gathering downtown and at Hillcrest Park on Saturday morning, Thron noted "that comes with more and more logistical considerations for our public safety personnel to navigate."

"We will have a mix of officers patrolling on foot and others in police vehicles," Thron said.

Thron said lawbreakers can expect to be cited or even arrested for drinking and driving and other irresponsible acts.

"These types of activities can lead to crashes and other property damage that ruins the fun for others," Thron wrote.

Thron said police will be on hand to help ensure safety, "without worrying about the very small subset of individuals who could potentially ruin it for others by behaving recklessly.

"We aren't always going to be popular with that small subset of individuals who are out to ruin it for others, because that's who we will be targeting during events such as this."

Some have expressed concern that police target the "hot rods" that are not always street legal.

Not true, Thron said.

"We really don't write a lot of citations for the old hot-rodders, the show cars. They are typically the ones who are careful with their vehicles and they baby them. It's the younger crowds who come out and do burnouts, drag race, violate seatbelt laws, etc., who are more apt to be cited for violating local and state laws," Thron wrote.

But he also confirmed Draggin' Main typically leads to an increase in traffic offenses compared to a typical summer weekend, "just because it draws in so many people to a small area of town with an increased police presence."