(This article has been updated with new information and to add a video.)
Palm Springs police officers will not be using motorcycles on the roads until further notice while the department completes a review of the Saturday crash in which an officer’s motorcycle went into a crowd at the city’s holiday parade, injuring a dozen people.
Officer Gustavo Araiza confirmed Monday that Chief Andrew Mills had decided to pause use of motorcycles, a move earlier reported by KESQ.
Araiza said there are four officers who typically ride on motorcycles to do both traffic enforcement and assist with special events, although an additional investigator also sometimes rides in larger events.
The Festival of Lights Parade continues by the scene of a crash where a Palm Springs Police motorcycle crashed into the crowd along North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
He said the remaining officers will continue their duties but without the motorcycles. Ken Merenda, the officer who crashed the motorcycle, remained hospitalized as of yesterday and Mills said he would not expect him to be able to work for quite some time.
At least one child and two seniors were among the other injured people, city officials said. Updates on their conditions were not available Monday, but police have said none of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening.
Mills told The Desert Sun on Sunday that the officers on motorcycles at the parade were there to keep people from the parade. He said they did so by doing circles in the roadway with their lights flashing.
The chief also said he was aware of reports and video of officers “popping the clutch” on their motorcycles and that is among the things that he expected to be looked at as part of the investigation into the crash.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, but Mills said his department will conduct its own “administrative investigation” into what went wrong and whether department polices were followed once the CHP investigation is completed.
A CHP spokesperson said Sunday he expected the report to be completed in 10 business days. Mills has also apologized to the community for the crash and said he will make sure the investigation is “as transparent and as thorough as humanly possible.”
Videos from the scene show an officer performing a “wheelie,” and officers’ actions have drawn criticism from a number of people who were at the parade.
A nurse who was attending the parade with her family, Veronica Ortiz of Pittsburg, California, said she saw the officer lose control of his motorcycle while attempting a trick.
The 32nd annual Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade was paused temporarily after a motorcycle crash that injured between six and seven people. According to an eyewitness account from a nurse who happened to be attending the parade with her family, a police officer lost control of his motorcycle while attempting a trick, and severed his hand in the process on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
“We did see him pop a wheelie and all of a sudden he went sideways and skid all the way over there,” Ortiz told The Desert Sun at the scene, “and lost control and let go of the bike and it went straight into the crowd.”
Another eventgoer standing near the crash, Byron Ruvalcaba of Riverside, said he had noticed the officer going “recklessly fast” considering there were children present. Ruvalcaba estimated the speed before the crash as 25 to 35 mph.
Other initiatives that the Palm Springs Police Department is taking following the crash, according to a Monday evening social media post from Mills, include:
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The management team will conduct a thorough and deep dive administrative review of the policy, procedures and historical practices of the Traffic Division. This review will include an examination of training, personnel and equipment available
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The Traffic Division manager will write a unit manual that governs activities of motor units concerning operations and the movement of police vehicles at heavily populated events
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The training cadre will ensure education is distributed to the department regarding appropriate decision making and risk taking
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Internal Affairs will conduct a personnel investigation regarding the incident
Desert Sun reporter Ema Sasic contributed to this report.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs police pause use of motorcycles after parade crash
