NEW ROADS -- Pointe Coupee Law enforcement has held multiple meetings with parish and New Roads officials, along with Mardi Gras parade crews, regarding safety for the parish's upcoming Mardi Gras parades on Feb. 17.

This comes just days after a shooting at a Mardi Gras parade in nearby East Feliciana Parish.

"I talked to the Sheriff there and some other people, so possibly two gangs and one of those gangs has ties to Pointe Coupee parish and New Roads, Louisiana," Pointe Coupee Sheriff Rene' Thibodeaux said regarding the shooting in Clinton.

The Pointe Coupee Sheriff's office told WBRZ that it is doing everything it can to ensure a safe parade.

"Right now, we are slated to have somewhere around 150 officers," PCSO Lt. Cedrick Epps said.

With less than two weeks until parades roll in New Roads, PCSO is asking for more manpower to handle security.

"We have Iberville coming to assist us, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. I believe East Feliciana may be coming and also the municipalities, the police departments in those parishes," Epps said.

However, they do say that this year has been more difficult to get assistance.

"A lot of other parishes at one point had started their own Mardi Gras, so that was one of the issues with us getting staff to come here. The numbers have declined over time. Not necessarily because we don't have the numbers, because we've always had outside help, it's just the outside help now has other obligations as well," Epps said.

The need has only increased following last weekend's shooting in Clinton.

"That was a very, very unfortunate event that happened there. In today's time, unfortunately, there are always concerns in any large gathering. What I'd tell you is we have a very dedicated law enforcement community here. We also have the crews who have been operating for decades," Pointe Coupee Parish President Major Thibaut said.

Parish law enforcement discussed their plans for Feb. 17.

"We're going to have officers throughout the entire parade route. We're going to have officers, depending on our numbers, on every street to ensure that barricades are staffed," Epps said.

"There was a request earlier in the planning to try and get more barricades, and the routes were changed up just a little bit to make it easier for not only the floats and crews to operate. but also make it easier for our law enforcement community to do their job," Thibaut added.

The parish says they plan for these parades way in advance because of the large crowds, but citizens say there's only so much that law enforcement can be prepared for.

"You just can't be prepared for all of it. Whatever happens, you just have to be prepared for that situation and deal with it as it comes, but you can never prepare for anything. I think they're doing a pretty good job," Pointe Coupee resident Raphael Porche said.

New Roads will have two Mardi Gras parades on Fat Tuesday, with Thibodeaux saying there will be more than 100 combined floats between the two parades.