ROTHBURY, MI - Police assigned to keep the peace at Electric Forest are starting to get a reputation - and that's by design.

Dozens of Michigan State Police troopers from across the Lower Peninsula will be on hand at the music festival that starts Thursday. They like to view themselves as peace keepers rather than enforcers.

"The key here is we're not going to spoil the party for these people," Michigan State Police Capt. Dave Roesler told the troopers who "mobilized" Tuesday in preparation for the massive music festival.

Festival producers contract with the Michigan State Police to provide a police presence at Electric Forest that will be held over two weekends for the first time since it began as the Rothbury Music Festival in 2008.

Troopers and command officers sign up to work the Electric Forest gig, which involves two weeks of work - six days on, two days off and six days on again. They'll work in 12-hour shifts to provide 24-hour service to 50,000 festival-goers who tend to be up all night partying.

It's a popular assignment and generally an officer has to have seniority to land it. This year, they're coming from nearly every police post in the state, except for the U.P. and Detroit. About half have worked the festival before.

"It's fun," said Lt. Rob Davis of the Michigan State Police Lakeview Post. "Most people are here to have a good time. They're very receptive to us. They know what we're here to do."

Troopers began arriving late Tuesday morning for "staging day" at the tiny village of Rothbury's community center. Commanders of the mobilization declined to say how many troopers will be at the festival, nor how much the festival pays for their presence.

They headed to the festival grounds for lunch at the staff "chow hall," giving many troopers their first view of the sprawling site on the Double JJ ranch north of Muskegon.

Troopers from the Lapeer Post said they hadn't been to the festival before and had been told to "expect a lot of people," and "to just enjoy it."

"It's not like we're there to arrest people," said Trooper Tony Montie, who said he was looking forward to his first assignment at Electric Forest. "We're just keeping the peace."

Lt. Jeff White, commander of the Hart Post, said police are most concerned about drug trafficking and thefts, including pick pockets who are known to look for easy opportunities to snatch cell phones. But first, they need to direct traffic starting Wednesday to help tens of thousands of festival-goers safety arrive, White said.

"Once we get them all in there, it's a city of 50,000 and we treat it like that," he said.

At an afternoon briefing, officers were advised to not feel overwhelmed by the number of incidents at the grounds. There are others assigned to respond to medical emergencies, and private security is there for crowd control, they were told. An undercover narcotics team also will be on site.

"Don't get overwhelmed with the fact that it sounds like it's crazy," Roesler told the gathered troopers. "It is crazy, but we do the best we can.... Just relax and enjoy it."

Last year, police made 16 arrests at the festival and investigated 29 felony drug cases, according to statistics from the Michigan State Police. They also dealt with five misdemeanor assaults, three misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges and seven misdemeanor drug charges.

The biggest role the troopers play is providing a "law enforcement presence only," Roesler said. Festival attendees report they feel safer at Electric Forest than other big music festivals, he said.

Troopers were shown comments on Facebook praising their willingness to mingle and dance with attendees.

"We saw cops raging, chilling, laughing about funny stories, helping lost festy goers, and even doing the limbo," one Facebook commenter wrote. "We welcome these types, especially when they are busy helping save lives."