Law enforcement prepare for busy Gasparilla, Royal Rumble weekend in Tampa Bay area

TAMPA, Fla. - Half a million people are expected to be out in their finest pirate gear on Saturday for Gasparilla in Tampa.  

In St. Petersburg, wrestling fans will head to Tropicana Field for the highly anticipated WWE's Royal Rumble Saturday night, which is expected to draw fans near and far. 

And if that’s not enough: The Tampa Bay Lightning have a home game at Amalie Arena against the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m. on Saturday. 

As a result, local law enforcement will be working together to stay prepared. 

"Almost every agency from here to Orlando is helping, coming to assist," Tampa police officer Chris Hanlon, who rides with the bike unit, said. "I’d say we’ve had probably over 100 bikes that are going to be mobile."

Tampa Fire Rescue’s bike unit is prepared to shift gears quickly from dehydration calls, medical emergencies and anything else Saturday might bring. 

"We have the officers that have a good eye as well that will keep us in contact if someone goes down. If we’re patrolling, we see someone in need, then obviously we'll assess from there," Tampa Fire Rescue’s Lt. Ryan Trippe said. "We're mobile, so we can get to people quicker."

Tampa is also getting support from the St. Petersburg Police Department’s marine unit.

"Other than that, we're having all our resources stay here in the city because again, we have our World Series event," SPPD Chief Anthony Holloway said, referring to the Royal Rumble. 

The chief said there will be officers on bikes, in uniform and undercover in the area near Tropicana Field on Saturday.

"It's all hands-on deck, because we also have to worry about – not only the [WWE] event that's taking place – but after the event’s over, are people going to go downtown? So we're also putting more officers downtown to be in place just in case," Holloway said.

Traffic is the chief’s primary concern, Holloway said. He told FOX 13 he’s had several conversations with the Tampa police chief ahead of this weekend. 

"We have to do all the what ifs. You know, what if something happens in Tampa, can we give the resources? What if something happened in Tampa? So we have to play all those scenarios. So I can tell you probably Sunday morning that we all can relax. But until Sunday morning happens, we're all preparing for the event this weekend," Holloway said. 

There is a free shuttle running in St. Pete with drop-offs at the Trop from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday for the Royal Rumble. Click here to see the map.