Every year I have driven 20 hours to be an official vendor at Bonnaroo. In 2005 we were greeted at the gate not by security, not by staff, but by three police officers. Right in front of us was a brother in hand-cuffs; the police held a pill bottle and gloated.
The officer that approached the driver side window of my school bus was a very short woman who began by telling us an amnesty tale: give up anything we may have now and we will be in less trouble later. I told her we had been through so many states having come from NY and many of those states have scary drug laws. I told her we would buy what we wanted inside and had no reason to travel with anything that would get us in trouble with all of our legal vending stuff. She and the other officers looked in fanny packs, wallets, pockets and small bags. No real search of any kind. Just fishing and profiling. Once they were satisfied, we were on our way in.
Police at festivals is becoming more and more the norm across the U.S. these days, but police searching on-site, at the gate, was a new one for me. That used to only happen at roadblocks on streets leading in. I’ve heard rumors Kansas is going to roll out a “red carpet road block” for Wakarusa fans this year.
Many festivals search attendees on the way in. But most of them use professional, licensed and bonded security, not law enforcement. It’s a big difference.
Bonnaroo has “forced” employees to act as informants according to several people I met in the campground. I spoke to two women who were nothing short of traumatized after they were told they were going to be greeters, but when they got to the festival, hundreds of miles from home, they were told to search cars and turn over all contraband found to the police. They were given no other choice for their work/ticket trade. The first hour of them on the job saw the arrest of a car load of “people just like me,” as one of the women put it, being arrested and their car towed off the property. They were almost crying and not sure what to do with themselves.
I interviewed one unfortunate brother who was arrested for chocolates with mushrooms in them at the front gate of Bonnaroo. He had driven all the way from NY. Brian said he had enough mushroom chocolate for himself and his friends. He said the chocolate contained 1⁄4 ounce of mushrooms to be shared with four friends over the course of three days. The chocolate was weighed “as is” (carrier weight laws) and he was charged with felony possession, and intent to distribute a controlled substance. He also says the person who found it did not want to bust him, but a supervisor took over at that point. Brian is not a rich kid and has no family to fall back on. His friends spent the next few days collecting bail money. He was looking at hard time. Thanks to his friends spending the weekend raising money for him, he got a good lawyer and got off. Many are not so lucky.
Most festival organizers cooperate with police because they feel they need them or are forced to have them in order to get permits or approval. A local promoter in Massachusetts states; “I let the police on-site because that is what the land owner and the town wants and it is getting harder and harder to find a place to hold festivals like these.” I hear this explanation more and more and as much as I want to disagree, it is a reality of festivals in 2006. Not all festivals or sites allow the police into events, but it is becoming more accepted and expected.
I asked a few different security supervisors what they thought of police at festivals: “Police can be a great deterrent, good to have around, just as a presence. But when they start arresting people for bothering no one else, they can just make things worse.” I have witnessed crowds in this scene fighting back against the police as has he. “When crowds get angry with police, the situation can really get out of hand fast.” Another supervisor had a similar view: “It is good to work with the police, so you can call them if you need them. But I like to keep them off the event site. Makes our job easier, the people respect you more.” He goes on; “Nobody wants to show up at a show and be surrounded by security, never mind police. But again, sometimes it is nice when the crowd knows you have them as back-up.” Another stated “Police also serve as a presence to let folks know that they aren't leaving a lawful community and entering into a free for all. As adults we all need to remember that we must be held accountable for our actions and the presence of law enforcement helps.”
Some people seem to think it is illegal to search cars and people in order to enter an event without “probable cause.” While this is true if you are on public land and are dealing with law enforcement, it is not true if you are coming onto private property and give consent to the search. Property owners and lessees can require a search for entry. You are welcome to refuse to be searched, you will just not be allowed on the property. This is a lawful search.
So where does the scene go from here? None of us want to see festivals turn into “a police state.” But how can promoters secure permits with towns that are requiring police for public safety? When do police go from public safety to armed security? These are complex questions. The future of our scene may partially depend on how much of a role we allow law enforcement to play in the security and planning of our events. It may also depend on whether we can “police ourselves.” Maybe the scene can also play a larger part of some of the law changes that are long over-due. This is something we are going to have to decide, prove and work hard on.
We also need to remember that the police are not the enemy. We as citizens need to change bad laws so that the police do not have to enforce them anymore. Police are told what to do (just like many of you at work); some enjoy it more than others of course. We may not mind them so much if the things we like to do were not illegal. We may even appreciate them for reasons we are supposed to appreciate them for!
So the next time you head out to your favorite festival, be smart. Have fun but know that there are probably going to be police on-site, or at least on the way leading in to many festivals; maybe even searching at the gate. Some will be in uniform, some in tie-dye. In any case, be careful out there. |
