Hidden cameras helped in drug busts at Wakarusa Festival

[jking]

Hidden, high-dollar equipment helped police crack down on drug dealing at this year’s Wakarusa Festival.

A new article in a trade journal, Government Security News, describes the roughly $250,000 worth of hidden-camera, night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment used by police throughout the festival grounds. The equipment was courtesy of a California company that agreed to give a free demonstration of its wares for marketing purposes....

Full Story HERE

[bdfreetuna]

seriously, festivals need to stop being held on public land. Public land = cops do whatever they want

[jking]

yeah, i\'ve been pretty much done with big festivals for a while now anyways, but this definitely helps seal the deal!!

camp barefoot was the ideal fest, for me. 600 folks and not a single authoratative presence anywhere! walk up to the stage with your drink, drag the cooler with ya if you want. smoke what ya will where ya will.... and the only cop i saw all weekend was 25 miles away, headed in the other direction.

[obsession600]

If the claim that the festival could not have continued without a visible show of drug-law enforcement is true then I understand the need to take steps. People should have been notified of video surveillance but not necessarily of camera location. If the claim is not true then it really sucks that those folks got busted just so a surveillance company could show off its wares.

I admit this response made me laugh

Posted by narky (anonymous) on September 15, 2006 at 8:21 a.m.
dude, you just killed my buzz

bustarusa, brah

[Todd]

yeah, i\'ve been pretty much done with big festivals for a while now anyways, but this definitely helps seal the deal!!

camp barefoot was the ideal fest, for me. 600 folks and not a single authoratative presence anywhere! walk up to the stage with your drink, drag the cooler with ya if you want. smoke what ya will where ya will.... and the only cop i saw all weekend was 25 miles away, headed in the other direction.

:that: Even the property that Camp Creek/ Gathering was held at, even though it was private, was controlled by nazi bikers. I personally never had any problems with them, but heard about a lot of issues. Camp Barefoot was INCREDIBLE!!!!! Run by fans for the fans!!! Def. see myself going to festivals of this calliber from now on!! And we will def. be at Barefoot again next year!!!!

[kindm's]

private land makes little to no difference.

When you have to get town approval for festivals there are always enforcement regulations etc. If you really think the vibes or any other festival that was / is held on private land does not have police enforcement then you are kidding yourself.

Just because land is private does not mean you can do anything you want. As an example you cannot paint your house certain colors, you can\'t aprk on the grass, you cannot build a tree house unless u have a permit to do so. Same goes for festivals. If you get a permit from any town USA there is going to be stipulations on what, when and how loud etc. Police enforcement is tops on list, followed by EMS and Insurance etc etc etc.

It just so happens that the ILCC has many of those aspects covered but i can assure you that undercover officers are there.

[jking]

the difference, kindm, is that on private land the owners provide the security and can keep cops from entering without a warrant, which will be tough to get if appropriate security measures can be proven. on public land cops have free range to do what, when and how they will. yes, you\'ll need permits, but no, there don\'t have to be police. and if you find the right location and don\'t sell alcohol, then your permit needs are minimal.

[kindm's]

the difference, kindm, is that on private land the owners provide the security and can keep cops from entering without a warrant, which will be tough to get if appropriate security measures can be proven. on public land cops have free range to do what, when and how they will. yes, you\'ll need permits, but no, there don\'t have to be police. and if you find the right location and don\'t sell alcohol, then your permit needs are minimal.

That really is not true. If you are having a public event then the police do not need a warrant to enter the grounds. There is nothing to stop them from actually buying tickets etc etc. Permit needs depending on what the event is completely up to the town that the event is being held. The town having the event may choose not to require a large police presence especially if the promoters can show that they have private security to help enforce rules etc but again their presence or lack thereof is up to the town / state depending on the size and potential traffic issues etc

[jking]

yeah, that\'s why i mentioned the right locaion. CB, for instance, was out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by 3000 of their own forested acres and more uninhabited land on all sides. add in the intentional size limitations and it was great without any hassle whatsoever. the county it was in has very few cops and because of its location, don\'t really care what happens as long as it stays out there (from a friend who lives in that county). but either way, i\'d rather have some semblance of privacy than to completely give away all rights from the get go. but you\'re right. since the patriot and rave acts, pretty much no place is off limits any more...

[FrankZappa]

what y\'all need to do is get some hippy native americans to let you throw a festival on native lands.

Native land is technically not american soil, which means that it has it\'s own laws and regulations. (This is why it\'s a really really bad idea to cheat at foxwoods!) They can put you in their own jails and try you in their own courts by thier  own laws.

The company an old neighbor of mine worked for did some work at foxwoods building the concert hall, and it was MONTHS before they could start work due to all of the legal paperwork that had to be filed.

get an indian to host it with cool native laws - do whatever the hell you want.

[Me!]

wasn\'t Phish \'99>\'00 on an indian reservation?

[bdfreetuna]

eh, all the more reason to say "screw the festie scene!"

peace+love on the surface.. but a dark, dark underbelly

[obsession600]

wasn\'t Phish \'99>\'00 on an indian reservation?

Big Cypress was the fifth and largest of seven weekend-long festivals hosted by the rock band Phish. The event took place on the eve of the millennium - December 30 and 31, 1999, at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation near the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida.

Native land is technically not american soil, which means that it has it\'s own laws and regulations.

[leith]

wasn\'t Phish \'99>\'00 on an indian reservation?

Big Cypress was the fifth and largest of seven weekend-long festivals hosted by the rock band Phish. The event took place on the eve of the millennium - December 30 and 31, 1999, at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation near the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida.

Native land is technically not american soil, which means that it has it\'s own laws and regulations.

Which is why Big Cypress will always stand out in my mind as the best Phish show (and if you were there you know it really was one big show!) ever!

Not only did the band play amazingly that weekend but we were free to do whatever we wanted as long as we were peaceful.

I thanked over a dozen of the "security" there for the use of their land to celebrate the New Year w/ 80,000 of my friends.

eh, all the more reason to say "screw the festie scene!"

peace+love on the surface.. but a dark, dark underbelly

That\'s why Vegoose is so Special.
Cops let you pretty much do what you want on the festival grounds and lots as long as you are not selling in front of them or being a dumbass.
It\'s freakin\' Vegas!
You know when you go there it\'s called SIN CITY for a reason!

[peaches626]

i dont know about you guys, but i\'ve never heard of anyone havin serious problems at moe.down before.... i was smoking and ingesting all i wanted wherever i wanted whenever i wanted all weekend and i never even felt nervous..... definitely my favorite festival ive been too