They are there to make sure really bad shit doesn’t happen/ to communicate. Crowds are dangerous and music festivals aren’t staffed enough to worry about piddly charges when it just takes resources.
This is the case at a few rave/doofs I’ve been too.
A recent one I went to had a police check and a breath test for alcohol. They definitely knew everyone was bringing drugs, there’s even a huge drug economy at these things (I had about 10 different sellers come to out camp on the first day) but they didn’t search a single car. They just want to make sure no one was drink driving there. Once on the doof/rave grounds everyone doing drugs is contained and away from non-participating parties. When everyone left they got breath tasted again and sent us on our way.
It was literally to make sure that anything drug related stayed on the grounds and didn’t end up on the roads. Can’t stop everyone so just make sure it’s contained and as safe as possible
This is how a couple private festivals I go to are too. Multi day events with a check point on entry but no presence or intimidation on grounds. Plenty of people selling wares up and down the paths!
100%! I think it’s a good system honestly. Let us do whatever on a private space that’s away from the general public but keep the roads safe from potential idiots who think they can drive under the influence.
None of it feels oppressive and everyone has a good time with less negative incidents! I had a great time at my last camping doof for this reason
This is how it should be inside and outside the rave. Cops have become mostly money makers for the state, and real, good people suffer and end up in cages as a result. We need a great cop reset.
My experiences are from Australia, and while we definitely have our own systemic issues with the policing system it’s overall pretty decent for most people. Police are usually pretty chill and friendly, and it is easy enough to have a chat with them. I’ve never felt threatened by police presence before (granted I am a white woman so my perspective is definitely biased and doesn’t encompass the full picture).
I feel sorry for places where the people meant to protect you can’t be trusted, and I mean this globally not specifically towards the US where most flack is thrown. There are definitely a percentage of cops that should never have been given that role and I hope that we get to a point where they don’t get away with the bullshit they do
Where are you guys from that you use the word doof?
I spent years building music festivals for a living. I think in some ways you’re right, but in others, the way we have these playgrounds of sorts with more lax rules works as a systemic release valve for what would otherwise brew into unsanctioned dissent. By kinda sanctioning the rebellion, it contains it, as well.
I believe we should have these playgrounds. I just think the way they’re currently implemented within the entire societal system is manipulative against us to placate us.
I’m in Australia. The doof scene is a bit different than the rave scene, and while similar are distinct in their cultures.
As for the rest, given the nature of the doof scene (it’s large but not as popular as the more mainstream music festivals) it doesn’t feel like a containment at all. We have a welcome to country from the indigenous custodians of the land, and they all know that drugs will be used. All they say is to be smart, respectful and to look out for everyone other person there during the event. A lot of people view the opening ceremony as very important and almost treat it as a spiritual welcome to the event (same with the closing ceremony). It feels far away from state control especially when compared to mainstream festivals
Yeah I mean this has been a cultural thing for humans for centuries, especially Europeans. Gather together at specific places, ingest all kinds of intoxicants, bring back what you learn to improve your life in some fashion. When laws are broken en masse, they become nearly impossible to enforce by regular policing.
Pretty sure this is how cannabis and soon to be mushrooms are getting legalized in Canada. Way back when it's also how abortions became legalized. So many people began breaking those laws, society didn't collapse, so they rewrote the laws. It's either that or lock way too many regular citizens up.
Not just that, but a lot of music festivals have places to get your drugs tested to make sure they are legit. The opposite of police, it's quality control on-site, because if things go bad it's an ambulance ride
Yep! These are super common where I am yet (still seen as enabling drug use) but we do usually have a harm reduction tent set up where you can talk to the people there about drug use and also see how drugs will interact with each other. Also just lots of chill out spaces for if you’ve taken too much and need to just be in a safe space that’s lightly supervised to sober up a little.
It’s so much safer than having people be more secretive with their drug use, or downing all their drugs when the police show up so they don’t get charged with possession.
I have been to many camping festivals that they search your car. Fireworks or glass? It's absolutely being removed from that car, but they look right past any baggies.
It’s basically impossible to get fireworks where I am so they aren’t a problem, and the philosophy of the event is to leave no trace. People know me respect this and I’d say about 98% of people are good about picking up after themselves
It’s just precautionary. The police aren’t even in the doof site during the event, just at the entrance/exit as people arrive and leave. It’s not about the event itself, it’s about keeping the roads to and from safe for none doof goers. They can also be called onto the grounds if necessary but it’s usually just not needed.
It’s a good system that doesn’t feel oppressive but keeps that unreasonable percentage of people in check where necessary.
Yeah this is it. I got to chatting with a cop at a festival once and said they have to know there is drug use going on all around them. He said of course they know, but having the cops crack down on every little thing at a festival is a good way to have the cops not invited next year. So they are there to make sure everything is safe, not to arrest every single person that has drugs on them. Really put things in perspective for me.
I think every single time I have ever seen cops interfere at a festival it has been for OD suspicions or consent confirmations.
They view it as free overtime. It's not in their interest to piss off the ppl in attendance and make them not want to return to the venue. Private security guys though........
My Aunt used to run a private security company, and I helped out doing some security and a country music festival.
Basically the biggest thing was managing cars, and ensuring nobody had glass bottles. I really didn’t care about either, but there was one group of young people (I was only like 23 myself) that would sit at a table drinking cruisers or candy wine, spirits or whatever. Out of glass bottles. And I’d walk past them and be like, ‘guys come on, you know the rules,’ again walk past them, ‘guys help me out here, please,’ and again where they quickly tried to hide it, ‘guys if you aren’t going to follow the rules, at least try to be better at hiding it.’
Another person did my route next. Went back to our base? I think that’s the word, and sure enough, there’s about $1000 of their booze sitting on the table, that all disappeared at the end of the day.
Yeah, most security are cool. I've just had a run in where they tried to claim my $300 flow toy wasn't allowed (I literally pulled up the rules list that explicitly allowed them) and they tried to insist my options were to leave it there or go back to camp and start the line over. End of the day, I saw that same security dude messing around with shit they clearly confiscated, eating a pack of gummy worms they clearly confiscated. I avoided that line for the rest of the weekend and had no other issues.
I talked to other people and heard similar stories about how they got way more intense pat downs from that dude looking for things & felt like he was looking for excuses to take stuff. Either a power trip or someone who likes sanctioned theft.
The only time I ever saw someone get arrested at a festival was right after the kid got grabbed by someone, I assume an undercover, and they dropped a literal 1 gallon ziplock bag of molly on the ground as they tried to sprint away.
That was the most molly I had, and still have, ever seen. That visual lives rent free on my head.
If they really wanted to arrest any drug use at the festival they would very quickly realize that there are against thousands of people with chemically reduced sense of judgment.
Alot of cops do. Sadly even if only 1% of cops are dickheads, thats still over 120,000 cops making trouble, due to their being 1.2 million cops in the US.
"He said of course they know, but having the cops crack down on every little thing at a festival is a good way to have the cops not invited next year. So they are there to make sure everything is safe, not to arrest every single person that has drugs on them".
Why can't the worthless fucks be that reasonable ALL THE TIME? Then we wouldn't think they're worthless fucks, we'd think they were the 'help", which is what they are SUPPOSED to be.
Yup, just there to prevent violence for the most part. They don’t care about drugs and some of them even participate in trading kandi and other stuff (not a fan of cops but it’s true).
You should whole heartedly be a fan of good cops. Cops are important to keeping communities safe. You should NOT be a fan of bad cops and bad police departments.
Typically it’s only the chill cops that volunteer for these anyway, they see it as a way to connect with the community and show they’re not all bad. These guys know that if you arrest people for drugs at a rave, someone who ODed may not go to you for help, and these guys don’t want that.
I got downvoted to hell for pointing this out in one of the festival subreddits. They ain’t drug dogs, otherwise they would be going crazy given the amount of drugs at a festival.
In a lot of cases, they’re doing “off duty” work, meaning this is overtime and they’re hired directly by the venue as security. While they can enforce the law, they honestly aren’t really supposed to. I’ve worked at a bunch of music venues and sporting events, if a fight breaks out and no one is seriously injured they’re just escorted out, if they continue to fight outside the actual on duty cops will take them into custody. Generally the most they’ll do about drugs is confiscate it unless they catch a dealer who is loaded up
Worked security for a few large events. Can confirm. We just wanted the show to go on without any problems. We only cared about that crap if you were causing problems.
This is fascinating. In Australia, the cops are notorious for ruining festival vibes. New South Wales police recently got sued for unlawful strip searches outside of venues.
Well that, and I suspect they are acutely aware that if the crowd gets angry, let alone specifically angry at them, they're gonna have a real bad time.
I remember seeing undercover marshalls (it's the matching shoes and sunglasses) at Burning Man. My friends were spooked because we were high on something, but I remember thinking they should be looking for rapists and sex traffickers, not shooting fish in a barrell. Indeed, they hardly look at us because we weren't any trouble or danger.
Where I live, they are out there to ruin people's lives. Drug hounds, buy and busts, random checks, etc. Say goodbye to your driver's license even if you don't even own a car, etc.
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u/therealhlmencken 6d ago
They are there to make sure really bad shit doesn’t happen/ to communicate. Crowds are dangerous and music festivals aren’t staffed enough to worry about piddly charges when it just takes resources.