@Iacchus 389492 wrote:
police are already tolerating more raves, they have shot up in frequency in london since the recession kicked in and i havent seen one busted for ages
London has its own unique policing challenges due to a far higher violent and serious/organised crime rate than most other parts of the UK (which social inequalities and the recession will exacerbate), as well as more political extremists (both right wing English extremists and Muslims) so the cops are always overstretched. Even Manchester and Birmingham are slightly less on top!
In provincial areas particularly those with low crime rates and otherwise good community relations illegal raves are the serious/organised crime as there is a strong drugs culture, cops believe some of the younger people who are not in employment are funding their lifestyles through selling drugs at these events, and the money thus earned also funds the cost of equipment and even replacing it when it gets confiscated. I’ve not just seen this in cops’ press releases (Norfolk has been mentioning it a lot more in recent years, and the press office know these days they will be challenged if they issue inaccurate reports) but had it confirmed to me by a former raver who signed up to a police force in SE England.
Out in the sticks land is valuable and farmers understandably resent having their properties broken into and trashed! add to this traffic offences/DUI (which has led to injury/fatal RTCs) plus the wholesale theft of Entonox/N2O canisters from NHS facilities and their resale at raves didn’t help matters.
The NHS also now have a voice in the licensing committees and they are unhappy with ambulances having to be deployed to raves in remote areas due to drug-related injuries or even violence.
However even in “zero tolerance” areas the cops do look more favourably on events run by people in their 20s with normal careers where they have permission to use the land (especially if it belongs to a family or friends, I’ve seen two fairly large scale unlicensed events in Suffolk actually be tolerated!). Although the risk with unlicensed events is if just one neighbour disagrees the cops turn up, although if the organisers have permission they are just asked to turn down the noise or shut off the system early.
