TBH though I reckon this was authorised at a very high level (including the obscuring of officers’ individual identification – this is an age-old and accepted tactic throughout the entire British public sector, not just the Police), it was going on before any of us were born.
To us ravers its an over-reaction – to the rest of society (particularly those who live near popular rave venues) its just “dealing robustly with a problem which could have created 3 days of nuisance”. in previous days the locals themselves would have been allowed to fight it out with the outlaws, with whatever weapons each side chose.
I get the impression cops knew they couldn’t stop the entire rave so the idea was to divert as many rigs as possible and clatter a few of the more stubborn ravers to “teach them a lesson”.
This sort of stuff happens everywhere , in the North it was routine and similar things happened in the SE a few years ago. Yes, the ravers of Manchester, Oxford, Reading, Aylesbury all “fought back” as well. The ultimate result was only that more cops were put on standby and more rigs got confiscated. they also are now tracking down people who own stacks and hassling them during the week…
Bear in mind any complaints against cops will be countered with potential PEL violation prosecutions as well.
It may seem harsh but the cops are weighing up the complaints of 10 or so stubborn ravers, against 100+ villagers if “nothing is done about a 3 day rave” – middle class villagers have way more power in society than young ravers mostly at college or not in constant employment.
Unfair, but thats the way society is run at the moment and it will take a lot more work to attempt to change anything.
BTW very soon there will be no difference between Suffolk and Norfolk police – they now work together anyway to stop raves and are going to be merged. think about who the MP for Norwich South actually is, he is not a happy bunny at the moment and in this country people “share the pain” when they are not happy.
and surely there is a better way than having to fight cops all the time? this sort of crap happens on the streets in Reading and London all the time – gangs brawling and riot cops steaming in.
that sort of bullshit is what some of us who like raving are trying to get away from…
Cops only get called to raves if people are very lax about security or logistics (which is what may have happened here according to some of the SJ threads) – or people draw attention to themselves in a country where people are insular and nosey.
You can’t easily fight an S63 without losses. it is better to move to a backup venue and regroup.
If people could get away with overpowering civillian cops every weekend like what happens in some other countries or even the cities of Britain, gangs would run the streets and take over the raves and real paramilitary police units would be regularly deployed to restore order. Speak to a few european friends (or even London ravers); they will have some stories to tell you about all this.
Incidentally Norfolk has 5371 km² area, Suffolk 3801 km². Although the terrain and layout often means villages aren’t far away, surely its possible to find less on top venues?
