Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills told The Desert Sun on Sunday that he was aware of reports and videos of police officers “popping the clutch” on their motorcycles at Saturday’s Festival of Lights Parade, where 10 people were injured when a motorcycle being driven by an officer crashed into the crowd.
“I am aware that there are reports and video of our officers popping the clutch on their motorcycles and that is one of the things that we’re going to take a very deep look at and make sure that we know what took place and why, and that is what I’ll report back on to the community,” Mills said.
The term “popping the clutch” on a motorcycle generally refers to suddenly releasing the clutch lever while providing power to the engine and is often used to rapidly accelerate the motorcycle or to perform wheelies.
Mills said that the police officers’ job at the parade is to “keep people back out of the street.”
“They do that by doing circles in the roadway with their lights flashing and that just keeps people back,” he said. “And so they were doing that all the way up and down North Palm Canyon Drive.”
Mills said he would review the information generated by a California Highway Patrol investigation into the crash to determine both whether department policies were followed and what lessons can be learned. The department first announced that CHP would handle the crash investigation on Saturday evening.
“To be honest, I don’t care what’s typical and what’s not typical,” said Mills of the popping the clutch” that was observed during the parade. “I care about what’s safe for our community. And even though this may have been done for years, if it’s something that puts the community in any kind of jeopardy, I want to make sure that we’re not doing that.
“Our full job is to protect this community and so we don’t want to put our community in a position, no matter how entertaining it might be or how fun it might be for some of the kids, we want to make sure that we’re doing this the safest way possible, and that’s what I’m very concerned about,” said Mills, who has been police chief since November 2021.
Mills says officer suffered serious injury
The crash occurred early in the parade at around 6 p.m. along the parade route on Palm Canyon Drive south of the intersection with East Amado Road.
Mills explained that Palm Springs Police intend to let CHP conduct a “thorough and complete investigation of the crash” and that his department will stay away from and not attempt to influence. That will be followed by the department’s own administrative investigation that will focus on the department’s own policies and what can be learned.
Palm Springs Police officers ride in a tight circle near the intersection of West Tahquitz Canyon Way and North Palm Canyon Drive as the parade begins to pass the NBC Palm Springs broadcast set during the Festival of Lights Parade in Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
“Then I will report that back to the community, and we will implement whatever is needed to make sure that something like this never happens again,” he said.
Mills said he did not have any new information about the status of those who had been injured, apart from the officer who was driving the motorcycle that crashed. The city reported Saturday that those injured included two children and a senior and that none of the injuries were life-threatening
The chief said the officer, who he identified as Ken Merenda, remains in the hospital after surgery Saturday night and was awake, alert and seemed to be doing better.
He also said he could not comment on photographs that have circulated and which appear to show the officer having lost part or all of one of his hands because doing so would be a HIPAA violation.
“There was a serious injury to him and the awesome medical team at Desert Regional took him into surgery right away, and the prognosis to my understanding is good,” Mills said.
The Desert Sun has reached out to Desert Regional Medical Center for an update on anyone injured in the crash who were brought there but has not received a response.
A California Highway Patrol officer responded to an inquiry from The Desert Sun about the status of those injured by saying that all media inquiries would be handled by Palm Springs Police, with CHP’s role limited to handling the crash investigation.
Mills explains why parade continued
Mills also said it was “probably a cumulative decision” to allow the parade to eventually proceed after it was paused following the crash.
“But when I got on scene and saw that the scene was pretty contained so that the investigation could take place and not stop the parade, I told them to make enough room and then make sure that the officers were between the parade and the crowd, I didn’t want somebody getting out into the street,” he said.
He added that there are “a lot of factors that go into that decision but the bottom line is I had over 100,000 people there to see a parade, we had people already chalked up in the parade ready to go.”
“So to stop the whole thing I believe would’ve created more of an environment of chaos and a problem than continuing the parade in an orderly fashion,” he said.
The Festival of Lights Parade resumes and passes around the scene of a crash where a Palm Springs Police motorcycle at the start of the parade crashed into a crowd of spectators in Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
Mills also reiterated that he wants a speedy recovery for everyone involved in the crash and offers “my deepest apologies to the community.” He previously released a statement Saturday night in which he said he felt ” terrible about the accident and injuries to the very people we protect.”
“The buck stops with me,” he said. “I will make sure that this is something that is transparent and as thorough as humanly possible.”
Palm Springs Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein told The Desert Sun on Sunday that “right now, we’re just sending thoughts and making sure that everybody who was hurt is okay.”
Bernstein also said he hoped that people could be respectful as CHP goes through the investigative process, which he said sometimes take some time. Bernstein said he did not have any further updates on the conditions of those who were injured beyond what had been released by the city Saturday night.
On Saturday, Bernstein released a statement in which he said that Palm Springs is a community “that can and will join in unison to overcome the most difficult circumstances.”
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.
Emergency crews treat patients after a Palm Springs Police motorcycle crashes into the crowd of spectators on North Palm Canyon Drive during the Festival of Lights Parade in Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs parade crash: Chief aware of footage of police ‘popping clutch’