Interestingly by the sounds of it they didn’t lock off the entire rave (which was fairly large) and there are few other news reports that it even happened.
There are many areas of Breckland (where Thetford Forest is) where there are few houses around and it is possible to make all sorts of noise without being noticed; however lots of these are still active MOD training areas (for the very same reason!) – and this particular area is very near a military training camp.
The times of the report to the Police hint that it wasn’t the rave that might have been noticed but the behaviour of drivers trying to attend it.
Me and my friends have been personally advised (albeit 15 years ago) by Police officers from the Thames Valley Roads Policing (one of them later was commonly seen on the reality crime show “Road Wars”) that raves themselves (provided they did not cause noise nuisance, pollution or damage) weren’t as much of an issue in comparison to traffic offences such as DUI and other dangerous driving – which in fact harms far more young people (as well as risking innocent bystanders) than any drug use!
At The last EA rave I went to I saw a nasty RTC occur amongst people leaving (large SUV type vehicle lost control and rolled over) – this put me off going to them again. The vehicle driver and passengers all needed hospital treatment and one young woman suffered injuries that are likely to cause her chronic pain problems for years if not the rest of her life.
One problem with todays outdoor raves is they go on much longer on Sunday (the cops themselves admit the site was not clear by 19:30) – that isn’t good as people are going to be even more sleep deprived and full of drugs (making driving home much more risky), previous ones started winding down around 10:00 and were voluntarily ended by about 12:00-13:00 on Sunday.
Also if the cops when they arrive see a rave standing down and clearing the site, many would prefer getting back to their families for Sunday dinner as opposed to working overtime locking off the event and seizing the rig (which requires extra units, paperwork etc). Cops like food (especially Norfolk ones from those I have seen over the years) :laugh_at:
another factor is there is a very high level of road traffic collisions across the region where young drivers and passengers have been killed or seriously injured. This is as much a fault of wider British society and our countrys poor transport infrastructure; reading between the lines also suggests that the cops had insufficient public order units to close down the rave “hard” and seize the rig but plenty of specialist traffic units (although what they did here seems fairer in the long run)
(this quote below is from Norfolk/Suffolk Constabulary combined press office)
25 August 2016
Three people who attended an unlicensed music event at Bodney, near Thetford, at the weekend have been arrested on suspicion of drug driving.
It follows an incident which happened on Sunday when police were called at 7.40am about suspicious activity at the location.
Officers arrived on scene to find an unlicensed music event which at its peak was attended by 500 people with 200 vehicles on site.
Police vehicles were used to close entrances to the site to prevent further vehicles from entering and the event was monitored throughout the day with the site cleared by 7.30pm.
A number of vehicles were stopped with drivers drug tested using roadside kits and three people were arrested on suspicion of drug driving.
Two men, aged 20 and 29, were questioned at Wymondham Police Investigation Centre and released on bail until 10 October while enquiries continue. A third man, aged 21, was arrested and questioned but released without charge.
Inspector Jon Chapman, from the Norfolk and Suffolk Roads Policing Unit, said the arrests served as a warning to people attending such events.
He said: “The event on Sunday was-well established by the time police became aware of it and measures were put in place to prevent it from escalating.
“A number of people driving home from the event were stopped by roads policing officers, concerned about the manner of driving and three people tested positive for drugs at the roadside.
“Driving under the influence of drugs or drink impairs your judgements and will make your reaction time slower, therefore increasing the chances of you becoming involved in a serious or fatal collision. We will pro-actively target such offences at these events.”
