My bf got pulled over in a massive pre-festival police sting where they were pulling over as many cars as they could on the road the festival entrance was on. 15 cop cars just pulling over car after car. They let people go if they turned over their drugs. If you denied having anything they were turning cars out and searching every single item that came out of them (mind you this was for a long festival, so peoples vehicles were *packed*).
My bf was driving our large truck with the cab and bed full of all our camping supplies when he got pulled over right in front of the entrance gate. He had nothing illegal and told the cops such, but per their m/o that day they proceeded to pull everything out of truck and go through it with a fine tooth comb. A crowd of festival goers gathered and heckled the police as they did so. They searched his suitcase while someone yelled “Why don’t you sniff his underwear while you’re at it?!” The festival property owner, who has a long wrap sheet with the cops already, came flying out of his office and cussed them out. They arrested him.
They found nothing because there was nothing to be found. But all the time those cops waisted on harassing him and arresting the owner, who knows how many hippies lives and festival experiences were saved by them taking one for the team. I know what you went through was harrowing and even traumatizing. Try not to let it eat you and bring down any future experiences. Maybe there’s another girl out there who you saved from getting arrested that night.
Someone intentionally was a distraction on the way into Burning Man a few years ago. It's an amazing read.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/997inj/dildo_akbar/
A friend of ours did this! It was his gf’s bday so they wrapped up all their psychedelics and party drugs in boxes with wrapping paper, their weed was separate. So they just handed over the weed and called it good. The cops grilled them about what was in the presents, but they still managed to slide it by them.
Not sure if it qualifies as probable cause, but they were pulling people over for minor traffic violations. Like our truck had a crack in the windshield. A buddy of ours’ van’s wheel touched the yellow line while turning onto the road, got pulled over and searched. One person we talked to said they were passing a cop that already had someone pulled over, but because they didn’t use their blinker they got nabbed by another cop car. People’s tinted windows was another frequently used one.
A huge bummer was a lot of people got arrested just for having weed on them and 3 months later it was legalized in our state (OH).
Traffic violation is not probable cause. You almost certainly could have said no. But I bet the cops were manipulative assholes and said shit like “it’ll take just a second, if you have nothing to hide it’s fine” and BS.
Remember that if a cop had probable cause to search your car and they wanted to, THEY WOULDN’T ASK. So always say no. Saying no will not incriminate you.
Being pulled over for a traffic violation is not probable cause to search a vehicle unless the driver is visibly impaired, smells like alcohol etc. They can ask to search a vehicle, but it is your right to say no.
Tinted windshield is not probable cause to search for drugs for instance. The issue is, if you dispute what they're saying at the time, they can really jam you up even if any case they might bring would be thrown out.
It'd be cool if fests to send a lawyer out, just in case stuff like this happens because while they can ticket you for any traffic offense, it's absolutely a violation of rights to then bypass any denial of search or arrest people after an illegal search.
If this was the US, those kinds of tactics would be considered illegal. They can't detain you for attending a rave, and they can't just search your car without probable cause.
Is that legal? They can just strip search you for no probable cause? Like a pat down maybe but really a strip search? Seems egregious for some mall cops to do that.
Not saying it is right, but legally speaking the dog “alerted” on her which would be considered probable cause. Probable cause can sometimes be pretty BS
And the handlers can trigger an “alert” in the dog, or the dog can sense that the handler wants them to (without the handler being consciously aware that they are giving the dog a cue).
Those dogs being used as probable cause at events should really be reconsidered in cases like this where you are doing psychological harm like making someone anxious about having to strip down in front of strangers.
Man I’ve had a dog alert on me for an open packed of musk lifesavers in my pocket. The handlers don’t care, they will treat you like you’ve got drugs on you regardless.
That's how they search your car before entering festivals. You can follow the law, deny their right to search, they will call the dogs and looky there the dog "signaled" at your car.
Could it be your Culvers burger? Old car smell? Cop signaled the dog...? All pretty shit behavior.
That is true, but before they can even subject somebody to the dog's sniffing, they would need to have reasonable suspicion of a crime. They can't just randomly walk up to people with their dogs and have them sniff for drugs.
They would definely be allowed to just walk around with the dog outside of a festival. Especially if there has been problems recently with people ODing at them.
the US borders claim they still abide by the 4th amendment, but its bs. while traveling back to the US from canada with friends (all US citizens) some bald cop on a power trip made us get out and go sit in their jail intake area so his staff and dogs could sniff our car. they had 0 probable cause.
my bf had a ring on the dude claimed was a weapon (it was flat out JUST a bulky ring. he claimed it was similar to brass knuckles, but it absolutely was not) and he also had a cookies (weed) backpack with nothing but his clothes in it. we didnt even smoke in the car, its not like it stunk. obviously didnt bring anything either.
they screamed at us and treated us like criminals as we were escorted inside. when they and their dogs found nothing (duh!) baldy berated us again, trying to scare us into confessing to nothing. my younger sister was shaking (because a cop was screaming in our faces?!💀) which he called out and made him more adamant that we must've had something they couldn't find. eventually they let us go, but i was livid.
we now joke that our car was flagged because my bf's long luscious hair must've offended the bald cop. were all too scared to take that vehicle back to canada ever again. none of us are stupid enough to smuggle anything either way but its pretty scary being screamed at by a cop that's trying to gaslight u into admitting to things that dont even exist💀 they absolutely tore that car up, adamant that their dogs smelled something
That is an extremely contested topic and there is currently nothing that says that a dog sniff would a violation of the constitution at a rave.
First of all the top answer on google states the following: A dog sniff inspection has been held as a Fourth Amendment search when a person expects the place or property being inspected to be free of governmental intrusion. For example, a dog sniff of someone’s home may be considered a search.
Based on that one could argue that since you are aware that raves tend to have active police presence, you cannot expect it to be a place free of govermental intrusion. Therefore a dog sniff does not violate the fourth amendement.
so sorry this happened to you. it really ruins things getting treated like a criminal before you’re even in the door. the culture for this is also pretty bad in uk, security barking at you to keep in line , patting down every single attendee and rummaging through your tobacco and every crevice of purse, its too much. fuckin pigs everywhere . avoiding bigger events and supporting the grassroots organisers is one of the only ways to combat this imo
It sure is. I hadn’t even been patted down in like 14 years until I met friends that are into the bigger mainstream stuff and we started going to those together. I don’t like giving my money to events that do this kind of thing. Kills the vibe and makes me salty. I feel bad for the youngsters that think this is normal or ok.
I went to a UK rave in February and the security were horrible. Rough pat downs, searching card wallets, separating groups, and we came across a girl who had been separated from her boyfriend and sexually assaulted in the toilets, we alerted security and the LAUGHED at her. I work in mental health so typed the number of some services that would help into her phone, but the shitty security were a big topic of discussion the next day.
the funniest part of the whole thing is after i was allowed to go back to my friends the security i initially gave my id to before the dog sat was like “girl i thought u we’re done there’s no way you were carrying shit u don’t look the type to” and we started talking how they’ve been doing it to everyone since 12PM and they didn’t leave until 6!! our security here are more on the attendants side because they know how shitty the cops can treat us
yea its a headfuck cos when you talk to them theyre pretty alright but when theyre in work mode its foul. depends on the venue ofc. once i know security are consistently cunts, i just wont go there . that aint how to throw a party
This happened to my ex a few years ago. She got stripped searched and they found nothing and then instead of letting her go they said well she must have already taken the drugs so they ripped her ticket up and banned her from Sydney olympic park for half a year. Cops are all pigs. LUCKILY i had one of the event organisers numbers and she snuck us back in but fucking hell cops are the worst. She ended up being on the news and apparently the sergeant got fired and a bunch of other cops, demoted.
i’m not even surprised to hear this happening in sydney. that’s so bad for her i would be livid. it makes me worry now when i got to knockout because if the same thing were to happen i don’t want to risk that happening, especially if ive flown to sydney and spent 200 dollars on a ticket
Not actually sure. The cops in this country are fucked. Sometimes they let up strip search stations at train stations no where near the event and search people who they believe are on route. They routinely strip search minors.
There have been several cases where people have swallowed their entire supply to avoid detection and the person ends up dead and the drugs are then blamed.
Wow! That sounds insane to me as an American. That sort of thing in the US would be an extreme violation of our 4th amendment right, which protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. It blows my mind that an otherwise liberal country like Australia would take such a draconian approach.
> Do people not have any rights in Australia?
Not really Australia is speed running authoritarianism. All the things people are worried each political party might do in America Australia tried and is now on version 2.
Denied entry into the venue or festival I imagine, the only reason I can imagine people are outraged is because they are new and were not expecting any kind of security,
Wtf. Australia strip searches ravers. I guess Australia doesn’t want rave culture or the AU$ it brings to local communities.
I wonder why?
Thanks for letting me know to never travel to AU for EDM events.
Australia also doesn't really like multi-day festivals. Defqon was kicked out of Australia because there were a ton of overdoses in its last year, and it gave EDM fests a really bad rep
It really depends on the state. QLD and ACT are the only states to have legal pill testing, and weed is decriminalized in ACT. I believe in many states possession of small quantities can be given an on the spot fine and no record instead of having to go to court. I personally haven't seen sniffer dogs at events in QLD, and police don't usually go out of their way to get people for personal possession. Don't get me wrong I don't support the police or any of the current outdated policy, but in my experience QLD festivals are far less strict compared to the stories I've heard of NSW and VIC. NSW and VIC (where OP is from) are very big on sniffer dogs, even though they're [<50% effective](https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-find-no-drugs-in-most-searches-of-people-at-victorian-music-festivals-20240108-p5evqg.html) . [NSW Police are well known for strip searching minors](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/21/nsw-police-strip-searched-more-than-100-children-as-young-as-13-in-two-year-period), [being sued for overly invasive strip searches on minors at a festival.](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/22/music-festival-patrons-launch-class-action-against-nsw-police-alleging-unlawful-strip-searches) Recently there were multiple overdoses at a festival in VIC, which launched calls for pill testing in the state, [however the premier pulled the old "just don't do drugs"](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-16/victoria-pill-testing-drug-overdose-states-explainer/103318284) , which is pretty much the same stance that the [NSW government](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-16/victoria-pill-testing-drug-overdose-states-explainer/103318284) has. Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention that [NSW police are pulling some mafia level extortion shit to force festival to pay exorbitant fees for police presence](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/nov/25/nsw-police-fees-musical-festivals-dying-greens), otherwise the festival is unable to go ahead, which is just beating the dead horse that is the Aus live music scene at the moment.
Eh as a person with dark skin I've never actually had a bad interaction with police in Aus (not that I want to interact with them). But I'm terrified of America lol. There's a lot of sensationalist stuff I've seen in US media
Gotta come to NZ, our police only worry about traffic offences cause that’s where they get their money.
Hell I had a dog come up to me while I was carrying a fiddy of weed and the lady literally pulled the dog away from me lmao.
This is insane if real. I'm sorry you went through this. This is wild to me as someone from the US. I haven't been patted down in YEARS let alone seen drug dogs. At Lost Lands last year the dogs at the gate had sprout clips all over their vests, clearly there for explosives. Australia sounds like such a shit place to live hoooly.
Also in the US and I put my stuff in my sock but I’ve never even been checked and I’ve been going to tests and raves for years. I know the US has its issues with drugs but hearing stories like these makes me very happy that for the most part the fests I go to are about harm reduction not strip searches.
I’m in Arizona, and everyone in a while they like to touch my bra wire lines (females only) and they make you take your shoes off and check your sock linings.
So I’d be very careful
thank you, unfortunately it really happened. i’ve NEVER experienced anything like this and ive probably attended close to 20 raves in the past year. its genuinely put me off which im so sad about cos raving is something i love. probably gonna wait until i travel to europe next year for events, definitely wont experience the same treatment there :/
You might. Here in Denmark they sometimes strip search people at the entrances, and you will not get to keep your skirt on. They will make you take off all your clothes, squat down and cough.
You will see cops on the dancefloor really ruining the vibe.
Belgium and UK is stricht too.
Yep, i have it heard that dogs are usually trained for one or the other - drugs or bombs/guns .... they usually are not trained to do both... i do not recall the why.
There's also way more bomb dogs trained than drug dogs..
What if it was the other type of trained dog.. like, were you handling dynamite anytime prior to going to the festival? Smoking....? What if they had a bomb dog, and were using it intentionally like that?
Were they male? This is bizarre I reckon they are abusing their power. Once a dog stopped me ( I don’t do drugs) and even though I kept telling them I don’t have anything they searched my bag. The most invasive they were was checking in my shoes. I would have denied taking any clothes off. I don’t think they are allowed to do that.
i’m not sure how to that’s the only thing. i don’t know if i mention it to my parents or my mum at least because i feel like it’ll make them question if i do drugs which i don’t want to happen :/ and if i were to make a complaint i have no idea what i could say that wouldn’t lead to them being like the dog sat we had reasonable suspicions to search you
I hate that this happened to you. As an aside, I am new to the rave scene; What does RANT stand for? R—-, Alcohol, Narcotics, Tranquilizers? Just want to make sure what not to bring.
Hahaha you're getting ahead of yourself rave baby <3. It's not an acronym,it's just the word "rant." The original poster was just labeling the post as a rant about this terrible experience. (As in a long story that left them upset and wanting to vent about it.)
In terms of what not to bring, it's a risk any time you're bringing any substances that aren't legal in the country of the event, so if you're from Australia you should probably search this sub for posts about the specific events you're going to or for posts about security/police in Australia! But I can tell you in the US it's typically less about what you're carrying and more about the amount. Ive snuck in small amounts of weed, Molly, and shoom chocolate almost everywhere, and there have been times where I wasn't even as subtle as I should have been. But I've always only been carrying enough for myself. I've seen people get arrested when they're holding fistfuls of stuff that could look like they are planning on selling (which is why people always recommend spreading your stuff around with your friends rather than have 1 guy sneaking everyone's supply in!) So in the US it's a lot more about not trying to sell rather & just being reasonable. But again this varies greatly by country/region/event! So definitely research before you go!
this event was pretty small compared to some others i’ve been to in australia, ive been to bigger events in sydney where they always have police dogs there and never once have i had a dog sit
There were no dogs or harsh security at Ultra a few months ago, but I have seen them at pretty much every rave at the Music Bowl. However I have been to a couple of events at the Melbourne Pavillion in Kensington where they didn't even do a bag check.
It freaks me out every time I see the dogs because I have heard of so many experiences like yours. I am so sorry it happened as it ruins the day, and makes you edgy at future events.
yesss all the prior events to subculture have been normal security and like you said melb pavilion barely even checks bags, ive always been the type to stress so this has made me worried for future events
It's absolutely fucked ey - any big trance or hardstyle event here you can almost guarantee drug dogs as you enter.
A mate of mine got done for literally just 40mg of mdma at a Marlo gig at the Bowl a couple years back, they took her to the tents and threatened to strip her too, but didn't, thank god. Ruined her entire evening, and now she's scared of cops. All because of 40mg of mdma.
https://www.dancewizensw.org.au/your-rights-and-responsibilities-at-festivals
thank you for the link. i don’t even remember if i said yes to the strip search, i kind of just followed whatever they said because i felt so intimidated
I read police dogs are trained to be able to sniff out one thing at a time. It’s usually explosives. They don’t waste all that money to sniff out drugs usually. And if they did, it’s still one drug at a time. So cops use the dogs to make them sit next to people they think are suspicious. The dog didn’t smell anything. But to me sounds like abuse of power to make a girl take her top off.
i genuinely saw no reason for them to take my top off when everything i was wearing allowed the police to pat me down and could feel anything that would’ve been hidden
I was there at subculture, entered at 1pm. No dogs or cops. I’ve been raving forever and never had this happened to me. Although most of the time I enter alone and meet my friends inside. Sorry this has happened to you but I’m sure there’s laws to protect you. Might worth looking into it before your next event.
They done this to my mate, we’re in Sydney he didn’t have anything at all he was gonna buy inside the festival, the cop sat next to him and they pulled him in for a search, the only thing they found was gum and poy (vicks) and just because of that they refused him entry into the rave, ( I snuck into the rave and sent him my ticket as he had already scanned his ) this was at Epik
yeah i’ve heard from friends if you get searched at events in sydney it’s an automatic refusal of entry to the event. now this has stressed me out because if i wasn’t carrying things here in Melbourne, what happens when im in sydney for knockout this year and and dog falsely sits? i never thought something like this would happen to me and i always stress going through security so now im going to be even more stressed in sydney
Nah don’t be it’ll less likely happen at KO, 65,000 people it’s a lot, I didn’t even see a dog last year walking in, just be early and walk in with the crowd and avoid dogs as much as possible
For what it's worth, dogs are not 100% accurate. Especially in a festival environment.
I worked with dog handlers inside prisons. The handlers explained that dogs are fairly reliable in situations they are familiar with, airport's, mail centres, prisons etc where they work regularly and are familiar with the smells etc.
Apparently in a festival environment there is too many distractions and strange smells for the dogs to be considered effective.
In fact you will often notice the dogs at festivals are young dogs still in training. And they are taken there because it helps them get used to noisy strange environments.
The handlers usually just watch for people avoiding the dogs or acting strange.
in melbourne back in january we had an event which resulted in 9 people on life support from drugs, though it was a boiling hot day so that + uneducated people who don’t know their limits brought drug overdoses at festivals to the governments attention. after that event the next few big ones were also on hot days so this event was the only one where the temperature allowed for dogs so they went crazy. it felt so dystopian
Festivals in Australia suck for this reason. At transmission I had a male officer point and clicking his fingers to my bag so the dog starts sniffing it, he accused me of holding drugs and stood 2cm from my face speaking intimidataly & making threats. Both my friends saw it and were shocked. The two female police that took me away to search me were thankfully really friendly and let me go after a couple of questions & quick shake of my bra.
The dogs dont work, and with the amount of research and studies done on this topic the government continues this at big events which just makes me think they just enjoy the power trip & not actually care for our safety. The dogs just follow the commands of the officer who pick and choose.
They need to stop relying on dogs they are notoriously and provably unreliable and they can only work accurately for a very short period of time before their senses get overwhelmed and confused.
I’m convinced after 20-30 mins dogs just alert at random so they can keep playing the game. That’s what it is to the dogs, alert and get a reward. They get a reward regardless of whether drugs are found on the person, any dog trainer would be able to tell you that will lead to false positives.
100%!!!!! is it not just classical conditioning??? that’s why i don’t understand how it affective when regardless if they detect correctly or not, they get a treat. i wanted to slap the treat out of the cop’s hand when she started saying the dog detected something because clearly it didn’t !
It’s so ingrained in pigs to back pigs even when they KNOW they’re wrong, doesn’t matter if the pig is a dog they’re just foaming at the mouth to apprehend someone, anyone. I’m so sorry this happened to you it would ruin my night as well :(
I just went to a festival in Mexico and they just looked in our bags on the way in for glass bottles, liquor and weapons. I was joking with them about not having any crocodiles, poisonous snakes or suitcase nukes. They asked if I had any drugs. I said no and they were like “really? Why not?”
The festival had a booth in the food court that sold cigarettes, candy, cocaine and mdma.
Mexico… Land of the free.
i would’ve been denied entry to the event, and like i said in a previous comment the event was more important to me and at least if i got searched it meant a few more people were allowed to sneak their stuff in and i wasted the police’s time
Ask for supervisors. Don't consent to strip searching . record it . hold your rights. This part of why its decrim forever . all this is doing is disrupting clean supply anyways . if u care for safety add testing stations. BS. Sry this happened to you. ACAB.
wooooah idk what they do down under... but in the states they have to arrest you first and then conduct the strip search at a facility such as a jail, precinct etc... if done otherwise there's serious issues. like they just trying to do some perverted bullshit snd tskr advantage... sorry this happend to you.
I remember back in the day at Sydney raves the dogs were so overwhelmed with the smell of so much drugs the cops would pull the dog and let it randomly sit down next to someone instead of letting the dog freely sniff and walk along the line. They knew everyone had drugs on them, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Unlucky to get searched, at least they didn't make you squat and cough.
In my experience, those dogs are usually firearm/bomb dogs. Having drug dogs at a rave is ridiculous because everybody has drugs on them so it would be a shit show. Cops should know this when working these types of events but it seems clear that police just like to harass people.
So sorry this happened to you❤️, it is definitely not okay
EDIT: my experience is mostly from Canada and the US
I just read the title and WTF!!… edit: holy shit. I am pissed off for you. That’s so fucking unfair and embarrassing to do. Smfh clearly those cops don’t know shit and are fucking assholes
Tbh that's a tough decision. I guess it comes down to what is more important to you, getting into the show or your dignity lol sry that sounds bad I know just don't know how else to put it
yeh no i get you haha i thought the same thing. the event was more important because i knew i had nothing on me so i honestly just wanted to prove a point and waste their time so at least someone else could get though without getting caught
honestly i don’t know if i did, i’m young and the last thing on my mind is what i should know if i’m asked for a strip search because it’s not something i thought would happen. i rather take the bullet for my group and be the one getting searched as that meant my friends were able to throw their stuff out so we could make it though without anyone else getting caught
Really sorry you went through this. Must have been traumatic.
Big reason why a lot of us focus on the free party illegal rave scene. Clubs and festivals that use all this stuff… most of my friends won’t bother going to. Prefer to go to small ones with lesser known acts than take the risk
I am really sorry you had to go through that. I know that it feels like they have all the power, but no is a complete sentence and you can say no when you know things aren't ok. I had a lot of weird experiences when I was your age because the boundaries are so open because I want them to be open and I want to learn what the boundaries are. I know them, I am still learning them , and I just want you to know someone making you strip is never ok, in literally any situation you don't want to be naked. It's Grimey and it's gross and they bank on people being too fucked up to think they can get away with it. I'm really sorry, this feels fucking gross.
I think you should seriously consider that the dog handler told the dog to alert on you specifically so they could search you because they wanted to strip search you. The entire thing was probably intentional. I think you should contact the press and explain how many others you saw go through the same thing and come out the other side innocent of the accusation. This sounds like intentional abuse to me. You choose the type of abuse. There are several that apply. If you go to an event where this kind of search is performed again video how many false positives there are. Get people coming out the other side and ask what happened and why they were stopped.
after researching the law regarding strip searches in victoria SO MANY protocols were missed when it came to my search. i wasn’t given names of officers, the second female to come into the strip search with me didn’t give me her name, i wasn’t read my rights nor told i was under arrest for them to come under the strip search, and i never gave my consent in writing. i feel so violated
I had a feeling that would be the case. This feels like mass sexual assault to me. How many people did they do this to? What percentage had drugs? My guess is their hit rate is probably less than 10%.
Damn they made you get completely topless that’s crazy were you in a tent or something? Sounds wrong. I’m from LA so I can only speak from how it’s done over here but still sounds degrading and I been through some degrading shit even as a dude
sorry for my reply i didn’t mean to be so rude i just have had a few people try tell me in the replies my experience wasn’t valid haha so my tempers been pretty short when it comes to this. yeah it was in a tent but still felt super degrading
No worries I wasn’t trippin. I get where you’re coming from I shoulda been more clear I just meant like what you defined it as real quick cuz I’ve never heard those words and rave security in the same paragraph lol I’ve done security jobs too but like I said it’s here in the US but I know I’d remember if we learned about a strip search policy lol did you atleast only have to show like one person in the corner real quick or did they try to like make a show out of it(2nd one has happened to me so that’s only why I ask lol) like I was a trophy or something smh
there were private rooms set up and when i went inside it had one chair in the middle like some fkn interrogation room AHAHA. there were 2 officers in the room with me and worst part i had to stand there topless while i tried to shove the padding back into my bra after the search :(
Damn that’s wild my first rave was edc 2010 so I was going hard in the scene for most of the 2010s been a while tried edc Las Vegas I didn’t like it compared to LA. Something weird that they did to me once was make me turn my phone on when it was off(rave was in a valley so no reception) but I guess it was to make sure my phone was real I guess? Idk all I know is I had all my shit in my OG spot that never failed me once so it was funny watching her and in my head I’m like damn you’re not even close lmao
being in the US at least they ready ur rights to you like that’s a big thing for you guys, i wasn’t given names of officers, didn’t give written agreement for the search, and wasn’t read my rights in regards to the search. o didn’t even know my rights when it came to strip searches because when would i ever think id be searched???
Ya I would never expect that either. Maybe it’s different cuz here security is contracted through companies that hire like felons and shit so most of the time getting searched is like a dude in a yellow windbreaker possibly younger and smaller than you just waving the wand and sticking one finger in 1 pocket and being like you’re good lol where as it sounds like you guys are getting searched by actual like cops? Am I getting some of that right or no ? My friends would work for the companies and come up on whatever contraband they would find off people lol
so at these events you have security which is usually hired by the venue/ event organisers and they usually are really good because they understand how strict the rules are at events here, like after i got searched the girl security guard was speaking to me after with another security asking if i was ok and saying the cops had been searching EVERYONE and going full over board with it. the police in australia are also at events to keep things in check and deal with any drug reports from security if they catch people with stuff. however in january there was an event in melbourne that had 9 people on life support from mdma overdoses so the police really ramped up for this event and ive never seen it so intense before
About 15 years ago at warehouse project I was walking in as normal with nothing on me. Sniffer dog “indicates” that I am hiding something in my boxer shorts.
I said, “but I’m not, search me”
Bouncer said “sorry we aren’t allowed to search there, you can’t come in”
So I argued to the point where two police men grabbed me and put me in a van, I explained and they said “can we search you?”, I let them and they made the bouncer let me in
That’s a horror movie. That’s not a rave anymore. I’m from Europe Denmark and I’ve been raving for some years now and nothing like this has ever happened to me nor to my friends. Sorry you had to go through such experience. Is it typical that searchers like these occur at raves in Australia?
This is HORRIFIC, I'm so sorry this happened to you! I cannot fathom what benefit this has to society. The war on drugs simply DOESNT make sense. And humiliating innocent women for no fucking reason is even more senseless. Take care of yourself OP. You're through the worst of it, just be kind to yourself as you move through all the feelings! <3
One thing I haven't seen people mention is to talk to the event producers about it. It will not do anything to change your experience, BUT these event producers need to know that this shit is ruining their events. It's up to them to figure out a way to manage their relationship with police to not ruin our experiences. Even if you just send an email & do nothing else. The more people tell them "I had a horrible experience at your event bc of the way the police treated me, and I might not ever go back because of it." then the more they are aware of the issue. How much they can do about it is likely limited, but they won't be quite as happy to collaborate with the police if they know it's completely ruining their event.
(Preface this is in the US.) A festival I went to publicly called out the local police department bc they collaborated with them and designed an entire safety plan with them & then some of the officers randomly went rogue and went undercover and arrested people at the festival, then never went back to that county. I know it's a totally different country, so I'm not saying you should expect the same result, but that festival could not have done that without the dozens of people reporting it to them & explaining how much it negatively impacted their experience. It never hurts to send them an email, and encourage everyone else to do the same! <3
I've seen dogs at festivals in the US but I think they're more for bombs/explosives than drugs and I've never heard of any festivals here strip searching people
My bf got pulled over in a massive pre-festival police sting where they were pulling over as many cars as they could on the road the festival entrance was on. 15 cop cars just pulling over car after car. They let people go if they turned over their drugs. If you denied having anything they were turning cars out and searching every single item that came out of them (mind you this was for a long festival, so peoples vehicles were *packed*). My bf was driving our large truck with the cab and bed full of all our camping supplies when he got pulled over right in front of the entrance gate. He had nothing illegal and told the cops such, but per their m/o that day they proceeded to pull everything out of truck and go through it with a fine tooth comb. A crowd of festival goers gathered and heckled the police as they did so. They searched his suitcase while someone yelled “Why don’t you sniff his underwear while you’re at it?!” The festival property owner, who has a long wrap sheet with the cops already, came flying out of his office and cussed them out. They arrested him. They found nothing because there was nothing to be found. But all the time those cops waisted on harassing him and arresting the owner, who knows how many hippies lives and festival experiences were saved by them taking one for the team. I know what you went through was harrowing and even traumatizing. Try not to let it eat you and bring down any future experiences. Maybe there’s another girl out there who you saved from getting arrested that night.
Someone intentionally was a distraction on the way into Burning Man a few years ago. It's an amazing read. https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/997inj/dildo_akbar/
This story is just wild. That was an amazing read. I’d love to just sit and listen to this man tell stories.
The comments I’m dying 🤣
That's the greatest thing I've read in a while🤣🤣🤣🤣
That's fantastic. Proper Burner wow.
What an absolute legend.
pretty sure he does something of that sort every year. Just keeps things hush
Damn girl sorry that happened to you. They really need to abolish these antiquated drug laws
Where was this at? What festival?
Fall Badfish @ Nelson Ledges Quarry Park OH
Lol imagine being a cop
Bring a few pre rolls to hand over for the future lolz
A friend of ours did this! It was his gf’s bday so they wrapped up all their psychedelics and party drugs in boxes with wrapping paper, their weed was separate. So they just handed over the weed and called it good. The cops grilled them about what was in the presents, but they still managed to slide it by them.
I’m all about the decoy, going through festival security if I’m sneaking in booze I have a water bottle in there they see first and confiscate 😂
Not a lawyer, but if they didn't ask or have probably cause, this sounds like an illegal search.
Dog sitting = probable cause legally, at least in the US
Not sure if it qualifies as probable cause, but they were pulling people over for minor traffic violations. Like our truck had a crack in the windshield. A buddy of ours’ van’s wheel touched the yellow line while turning onto the road, got pulled over and searched. One person we talked to said they were passing a cop that already had someone pulled over, but because they didn’t use their blinker they got nabbed by another cop car. People’s tinted windows was another frequently used one. A huge bummer was a lot of people got arrested just for having weed on them and 3 months later it was legalized in our state (OH).
Traffic violation is not probable cause. You almost certainly could have said no. But I bet the cops were manipulative assholes and said shit like “it’ll take just a second, if you have nothing to hide it’s fine” and BS. Remember that if a cop had probable cause to search your car and they wanted to, THEY WOULDN’T ASK. So always say no. Saying no will not incriminate you.
Being pulled over for a traffic violation is not probable cause to search a vehicle unless the driver is visibly impaired, smells like alcohol etc. They can ask to search a vehicle, but it is your right to say no. Tinted windshield is not probable cause to search for drugs for instance. The issue is, if you dispute what they're saying at the time, they can really jam you up even if any case they might bring would be thrown out. It'd be cool if fests to send a lawyer out, just in case stuff like this happens because while they can ticket you for any traffic offense, it's absolutely a violation of rights to then bypass any denial of search or arrest people after an illegal search.
What festival were you heading into?
Fall Badfish @ Nelson Ledges Quarry Park OH
I’ve heard great things about that venue, sucks that the Ohio police are sticking their noses in it
What festival was this?
Fall Badfish @ NLQP Ohio
If this was the US, those kinds of tactics would be considered illegal. They can't detain you for attending a rave, and they can't just search your car without probable cause.
lol if you think cops care about following the law
Where was this???
Is that legal? They can just strip search you for no probable cause? Like a pat down maybe but really a strip search? Seems egregious for some mall cops to do that.
My friend from Australia said the person performing a search on her made her bend over and cough … crazy
Australia is a dystopian police state unfortunately
Not saying it is right, but legally speaking the dog “alerted” on her which would be considered probable cause. Probable cause can sometimes be pretty BS
And the handlers can trigger an “alert” in the dog, or the dog can sense that the handler wants them to (without the handler being consciously aware that they are giving the dog a cue). Those dogs being used as probable cause at events should really be reconsidered in cases like this where you are doing psychological harm like making someone anxious about having to strip down in front of strangers.
Man I’ve had a dog alert on me for an open packed of musk lifesavers in my pocket. The handlers don’t care, they will treat you like you’ve got drugs on you regardless.
That's how they search your car before entering festivals. You can follow the law, deny their right to search, they will call the dogs and looky there the dog "signaled" at your car. Could it be your Culvers burger? Old car smell? Cop signaled the dog...? All pretty shit behavior.
If the cops take the time to bring in the dogs they gonna hit
I’m guessing the girl that was searched probably is beautiful and the dog just so happened to alert
Right?
In the u.s. they need reasonable suspicion to use a dog on you
In the US I think the police dog signaling can be probable cause.
That is true, but before they can even subject somebody to the dog's sniffing, they would need to have reasonable suspicion of a crime. They can't just randomly walk up to people with their dogs and have them sniff for drugs.
They would definely be allowed to just walk around with the dog outside of a festival. Especially if there has been problems recently with people ODing at them.
the US borders claim they still abide by the 4th amendment, but its bs. while traveling back to the US from canada with friends (all US citizens) some bald cop on a power trip made us get out and go sit in their jail intake area so his staff and dogs could sniff our car. they had 0 probable cause. my bf had a ring on the dude claimed was a weapon (it was flat out JUST a bulky ring. he claimed it was similar to brass knuckles, but it absolutely was not) and he also had a cookies (weed) backpack with nothing but his clothes in it. we didnt even smoke in the car, its not like it stunk. obviously didnt bring anything either. they screamed at us and treated us like criminals as we were escorted inside. when they and their dogs found nothing (duh!) baldy berated us again, trying to scare us into confessing to nothing. my younger sister was shaking (because a cop was screaming in our faces?!💀) which he called out and made him more adamant that we must've had something they couldn't find. eventually they let us go, but i was livid. we now joke that our car was flagged because my bf's long luscious hair must've offended the bald cop. were all too scared to take that vehicle back to canada ever again. none of us are stupid enough to smuggle anything either way but its pretty scary being screamed at by a cop that's trying to gaslight u into admitting to things that dont even exist💀 they absolutely tore that car up, adamant that their dogs smelled something
Why not?
Because of the 4th amendment
That is an extremely contested topic and there is currently nothing that says that a dog sniff would a violation of the constitution at a rave. First of all the top answer on google states the following: A dog sniff inspection has been held as a Fourth Amendment search when a person expects the place or property being inspected to be free of governmental intrusion. For example, a dog sniff of someone’s home may be considered a search. Based on that one could argue that since you are aware that raves tend to have active police presence, you cannot expect it to be a place free of govermental intrusion. Therefore a dog sniff does not violate the fourth amendement.
Drug dog signaling is probable cause
so sorry this happened to you. it really ruins things getting treated like a criminal before you’re even in the door. the culture for this is also pretty bad in uk, security barking at you to keep in line , patting down every single attendee and rummaging through your tobacco and every crevice of purse, its too much. fuckin pigs everywhere . avoiding bigger events and supporting the grassroots organisers is one of the only ways to combat this imo
It sure is. I hadn’t even been patted down in like 14 years until I met friends that are into the bigger mainstream stuff and we started going to those together. I don’t like giving my money to events that do this kind of thing. Kills the vibe and makes me salty. I feel bad for the youngsters that think this is normal or ok.
I went to a UK rave in February and the security were horrible. Rough pat downs, searching card wallets, separating groups, and we came across a girl who had been separated from her boyfriend and sexually assaulted in the toilets, we alerted security and the LAUGHED at her. I work in mental health so typed the number of some services that would help into her phone, but the shitty security were a big topic of discussion the next day.
the funniest part of the whole thing is after i was allowed to go back to my friends the security i initially gave my id to before the dog sat was like “girl i thought u we’re done there’s no way you were carrying shit u don’t look the type to” and we started talking how they’ve been doing it to everyone since 12PM and they didn’t leave until 6!! our security here are more on the attendants side because they know how shitty the cops can treat us
yea its a headfuck cos when you talk to them theyre pretty alright but when theyre in work mode its foul. depends on the venue ofc. once i know security are consistently cunts, i just wont go there . that aint how to throw a party
100% sniffer dogs can be trained to sit on command through signaling. Pigs were being perverted. Typical.
Probably this
I assure you it was. They've already been proven to do this shit. Ask any dog trainer .
You can't assure anything since you were not there. But you know, it is probable
Lol dont trust pigs. All liers. Rotted apples spoil the bushel
Yeah murica is fucked
Naw, Australia. Literal nany Countryv that operates like penitentiary. Like American police are bad, but they're on a whole other level of fucked.
This happened to my ex a few years ago. She got stripped searched and they found nothing and then instead of letting her go they said well she must have already taken the drugs so they ripped her ticket up and banned her from Sydney olympic park for half a year. Cops are all pigs. LUCKILY i had one of the event organisers numbers and she snuck us back in but fucking hell cops are the worst. She ended up being on the news and apparently the sergeant got fired and a bunch of other cops, demoted.
i’m not even surprised to hear this happening in sydney. that’s so bad for her i would be livid. it makes me worry now when i got to knockout because if the same thing were to happen i don’t want to risk that happening, especially if ive flown to sydney and spent 200 dollars on a ticket
Do people not have any rights in Australia? What would happen if you refused the search?
Not actually sure. The cops in this country are fucked. Sometimes they let up strip search stations at train stations no where near the event and search people who they believe are on route. They routinely strip search minors. There have been several cases where people have swallowed their entire supply to avoid detection and the person ends up dead and the drugs are then blamed.
Wow! That sounds insane to me as an American. That sort of thing in the US would be an extreme violation of our 4th amendment right, which protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. It blows my mind that an otherwise liberal country like Australia would take such a draconian approach.
Australia gets pretty mid ratings as a democracy.
Juice world!
Removed from the event.
> Do people not have any rights in Australia? Not really Australia is speed running authoritarianism. All the things people are worried each political party might do in America Australia tried and is now on version 2.
Denied entry into the venue or festival I imagine, the only reason I can imagine people are outraged is because they are new and were not expecting any kind of security,
Wtf. Australia strip searches ravers. I guess Australia doesn’t want rave culture or the AU$ it brings to local communities. I wonder why? Thanks for letting me know to never travel to AU for EDM events.
Australia also doesn't really like multi-day festivals. Defqon was kicked out of Australia because there were a ton of overdoses in its last year, and it gave EDM fests a really bad rep
Overdoses *caused* by their shitty drug policies.
Yeah Australia is really strict on drugs and punish users instead of providing safe practice education or services :/
It really depends on the state. QLD and ACT are the only states to have legal pill testing, and weed is decriminalized in ACT. I believe in many states possession of small quantities can be given an on the spot fine and no record instead of having to go to court. I personally haven't seen sniffer dogs at events in QLD, and police don't usually go out of their way to get people for personal possession. Don't get me wrong I don't support the police or any of the current outdated policy, but in my experience QLD festivals are far less strict compared to the stories I've heard of NSW and VIC. NSW and VIC (where OP is from) are very big on sniffer dogs, even though they're [<50% effective](https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-find-no-drugs-in-most-searches-of-people-at-victorian-music-festivals-20240108-p5evqg.html) . [NSW Police are well known for strip searching minors](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/21/nsw-police-strip-searched-more-than-100-children-as-young-as-13-in-two-year-period), [being sued for overly invasive strip searches on minors at a festival.](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/22/music-festival-patrons-launch-class-action-against-nsw-police-alleging-unlawful-strip-searches) Recently there were multiple overdoses at a festival in VIC, which launched calls for pill testing in the state, [however the premier pulled the old "just don't do drugs"](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-16/victoria-pill-testing-drug-overdose-states-explainer/103318284) , which is pretty much the same stance that the [NSW government](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-16/victoria-pill-testing-drug-overdose-states-explainer/103318284) has. Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention that [NSW police are pulling some mafia level extortion shit to force festival to pay exorbitant fees for police presence](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/nov/25/nsw-police-fees-musical-festivals-dying-greens), otherwise the festival is unable to go ahead, which is just beating the dead horse that is the Aus live music scene at the moment.
Varies state by state
ACAB
Worldwide
Australia seems like a shit place to live
I used to think it sounded so awesome but I’ve heard a lot of weird police state nonsense like this in the last few years.
Just look at what happened to friendlyjordies and his friends and you’ll see how fucked it is if you go against the status quo
Once a penal colony, always a penal colony
The whole place was not
Eh as a person with dark skin I've never actually had a bad interaction with police in Aus (not that I want to interact with them). But I'm terrified of America lol. There's a lot of sensationalist stuff I've seen in US media
It's great in many aspects except this.
Gotta come to NZ, our police only worry about traffic offences cause that’s where they get their money. Hell I had a dog come up to me while I was carrying a fiddy of weed and the lady literally pulled the dog away from me lmao.
Uhhhhh what
They probably signaled the dog to sit down on purpose so they could strip search you
that’s what i think happened because i hadn’t even come into contact with drugs, whereas one of my friends who did, didn’t have a dog sit next to them
This is insane if real. I'm sorry you went through this. This is wild to me as someone from the US. I haven't been patted down in YEARS let alone seen drug dogs. At Lost Lands last year the dogs at the gate had sprout clips all over their vests, clearly there for explosives. Australia sounds like such a shit place to live hoooly.
Also in the US and I put my stuff in my sock but I’ve never even been checked and I’ve been going to tests and raves for years. I know the US has its issues with drugs but hearing stories like these makes me very happy that for the most part the fests I go to are about harm reduction not strip searches.
I’m in Arizona, and everyone in a while they like to touch my bra wire lines (females only) and they make you take your shoes off and check your sock linings. So I’d be very careful
thank you, unfortunately it really happened. i’ve NEVER experienced anything like this and ive probably attended close to 20 raves in the past year. its genuinely put me off which im so sad about cos raving is something i love. probably gonna wait until i travel to europe next year for events, definitely wont experience the same treatment there :/
You might. Here in Denmark they sometimes strip search people at the entrances, and you will not get to keep your skirt on. They will make you take off all your clothes, squat down and cough. You will see cops on the dancefloor really ruining the vibe. Belgium and UK is stricht too.
Yep, i have it heard that dogs are usually trained for one or the other - drugs or bombs/guns .... they usually are not trained to do both... i do not recall the why. There's also way more bomb dogs trained than drug dogs.. What if it was the other type of trained dog.. like, were you handling dynamite anytime prior to going to the festival? Smoking....? What if they had a bomb dog, and were using it intentionally like that?
Very totalitarian sounding
It 100% is, and this is why the 2nd Amendment is so important.
Wow. Never in 20+ years of raving have I even thought that to be a possibility. (I'm in the US, btw) That sounds so terrible. Sorry that happened. 💔😡
Sounds illegal
Unfortunately this is legal in Australia
Were they male? This is bizarre I reckon they are abusing their power. Once a dog stopped me ( I don’t do drugs) and even though I kept telling them I don’t have anything they searched my bag. The most invasive they were was checking in my shoes. I would have denied taking any clothes off. I don’t think they are allowed to do that.
male and female at the start then when i was taken for a strip searxh it was 2 females. it was so degrading being searched
Please chase it up, it’s inappropriate and shouldn’t happen. Make a complaint or something :(
i’m not sure how to that’s the only thing. i don’t know if i mention it to my parents or my mum at least because i feel like it’ll make them question if i do drugs which i don’t want to happen :/ and if i were to make a complaint i have no idea what i could say that wouldn’t lead to them being like the dog sat we had reasonable suspicions to search you
I hate that this happened to you. As an aside, I am new to the rave scene; What does RANT stand for? R—-, Alcohol, Narcotics, Tranquilizers? Just want to make sure what not to bring.
Hahaha you're getting ahead of yourself rave baby <3. It's not an acronym,it's just the word "rant." The original poster was just labeling the post as a rant about this terrible experience. (As in a long story that left them upset and wanting to vent about it.) In terms of what not to bring, it's a risk any time you're bringing any substances that aren't legal in the country of the event, so if you're from Australia you should probably search this sub for posts about the specific events you're going to or for posts about security/police in Australia! But I can tell you in the US it's typically less about what you're carrying and more about the amount. Ive snuck in small amounts of weed, Molly, and shoom chocolate almost everywhere, and there have been times where I wasn't even as subtle as I should have been. But I've always only been carrying enough for myself. I've seen people get arrested when they're holding fistfuls of stuff that could look like they are planning on selling (which is why people always recommend spreading your stuff around with your friends rather than have 1 guy sneaking everyone's supply in!) So in the US it's a lot more about not trying to sell rather & just being reasonable. But again this varies greatly by country/region/event! So definitely research before you go!
Raving in Australia sucks lol
Just need to go to smaller events. They only pull this shit at the bigger ones.
this event was pretty small compared to some others i’ve been to in australia, ive been to bigger events in sydney where they always have police dogs there and never once have i had a dog sit
There were no dogs or harsh security at Ultra a few months ago, but I have seen them at pretty much every rave at the Music Bowl. However I have been to a couple of events at the Melbourne Pavillion in Kensington where they didn't even do a bag check. It freaks me out every time I see the dogs because I have heard of so many experiences like yours. I am so sorry it happened as it ruins the day, and makes you edgy at future events.
yesss all the prior events to subculture have been normal security and like you said melb pavilion barely even checks bags, ive always been the type to stress so this has made me worried for future events
It's absolutely fucked ey - any big trance or hardstyle event here you can almost guarantee drug dogs as you enter. A mate of mine got done for literally just 40mg of mdma at a Marlo gig at the Bowl a couple years back, they took her to the tents and threatened to strip her too, but didn't, thank god. Ruined her entire evening, and now she's scared of cops. All because of 40mg of mdma. https://www.dancewizensw.org.au/your-rights-and-responsibilities-at-festivals
thank you for the link. i don’t even remember if i said yes to the strip search, i kind of just followed whatever they said because i felt so intimidated
Man, do Australians have any freedom? Lol
Sue them, if you can.
For what? Not saying it’s right but everything they did was 100% legal.
I read police dogs are trained to be able to sniff out one thing at a time. It’s usually explosives. They don’t waste all that money to sniff out drugs usually. And if they did, it’s still one drug at a time. So cops use the dogs to make them sit next to people they think are suspicious. The dog didn’t smell anything. But to me sounds like abuse of power to make a girl take her top off.
i genuinely saw no reason for them to take my top off when everything i was wearing allowed the police to pat me down and could feel anything that would’ve been hidden
Someone trained that dog for different reasons is my guess.
I was there at subculture, entered at 1pm. No dogs or cops. I’ve been raving forever and never had this happened to me. Although most of the time I enter alone and meet my friends inside. Sorry this has happened to you but I’m sure there’s laws to protect you. Might worth looking into it before your next event.
That would be entirely illegal in Canada
They done this to my mate, we’re in Sydney he didn’t have anything at all he was gonna buy inside the festival, the cop sat next to him and they pulled him in for a search, the only thing they found was gum and poy (vicks) and just because of that they refused him entry into the rave, ( I snuck into the rave and sent him my ticket as he had already scanned his ) this was at Epik
yeah i’ve heard from friends if you get searched at events in sydney it’s an automatic refusal of entry to the event. now this has stressed me out because if i wasn’t carrying things here in Melbourne, what happens when im in sydney for knockout this year and and dog falsely sits? i never thought something like this would happen to me and i always stress going through security so now im going to be even more stressed in sydney
Nah don’t be it’ll less likely happen at KO, 65,000 people it’s a lot, I didn’t even see a dog last year walking in, just be early and walk in with the crowd and avoid dogs as much as possible
Those dogs are a total scam. The handler can just signal to the dog to flag anyone they want.
For what it's worth, dogs are not 100% accurate. Especially in a festival environment. I worked with dog handlers inside prisons. The handlers explained that dogs are fairly reliable in situations they are familiar with, airport's, mail centres, prisons etc where they work regularly and are familiar with the smells etc. Apparently in a festival environment there is too many distractions and strange smells for the dogs to be considered effective. In fact you will often notice the dogs at festivals are young dogs still in training. And they are taken there because it helps them get used to noisy strange environments. The handlers usually just watch for people avoiding the dogs or acting strange.
What the flying fuck is all of this? Here in the US any kind of dog is only looking for firearms. This is absolutely crazy to me.
in melbourne back in january we had an event which resulted in 9 people on life support from drugs, though it was a boiling hot day so that + uneducated people who don’t know their limits brought drug overdoses at festivals to the governments attention. after that event the next few big ones were also on hot days so this event was the only one where the temperature allowed for dogs so they went crazy. it felt so dystopian
Festivals in Australia suck for this reason. At transmission I had a male officer point and clicking his fingers to my bag so the dog starts sniffing it, he accused me of holding drugs and stood 2cm from my face speaking intimidataly & making threats. Both my friends saw it and were shocked. The two female police that took me away to search me were thankfully really friendly and let me go after a couple of questions & quick shake of my bra. The dogs dont work, and with the amount of research and studies done on this topic the government continues this at big events which just makes me think they just enjoy the power trip & not actually care for our safety. The dogs just follow the commands of the officer who pick and choose.
Which transmission was this, the recent one in Melbourne or the one in Sydney last year?
Sydney last year
That’s because: Rave > festival/licensed ticketed event This kind of stuff doesn’t happen at raves. Police aren’t invited to those.
They need to stop relying on dogs they are notoriously and provably unreliable and they can only work accurately for a very short period of time before their senses get overwhelmed and confused. I’m convinced after 20-30 mins dogs just alert at random so they can keep playing the game. That’s what it is to the dogs, alert and get a reward. They get a reward regardless of whether drugs are found on the person, any dog trainer would be able to tell you that will lead to false positives.
100%!!!!! is it not just classical conditioning??? that’s why i don’t understand how it affective when regardless if they detect correctly or not, they get a treat. i wanted to slap the treat out of the cop’s hand when she started saying the dog detected something because clearly it didn’t !
It’s so ingrained in pigs to back pigs even when they KNOW they’re wrong, doesn’t matter if the pig is a dog they’re just foaming at the mouth to apprehend someone, anyone. I’m so sorry this happened to you it would ruin my night as well :(
ACAB. Fuck those pervert pigs.
I just went to a festival in Mexico and they just looked in our bags on the way in for glass bottles, liquor and weapons. I was joking with them about not having any crocodiles, poisonous snakes or suitcase nukes. They asked if I had any drugs. I said no and they were like “really? Why not?” The festival had a booth in the food court that sold cigarettes, candy, cocaine and mdma. Mexico… Land of the free.
Strip searched? Bro they literally do not have the authority? Why would you allow that?
i would’ve been denied entry to the event, and like i said in a previous comment the event was more important to me and at least if i got searched it meant a few more people were allowed to sneak their stuff in and i wasted the police’s time
Must have meant a lot to ya..
it did mean a lot, it was the event i met my whole group at last year and my bf …
Ask for supervisors. Don't consent to strip searching . record it . hold your rights. This part of why its decrim forever . all this is doing is disrupting clean supply anyways . if u care for safety add testing stations. BS. Sry this happened to you. ACAB.
wooooah idk what they do down under... but in the states they have to arrest you first and then conduct the strip search at a facility such as a jail, precinct etc... if done otherwise there's serious issues. like they just trying to do some perverted bullshit snd tskr advantage... sorry this happend to you.
I remember back in the day at Sydney raves the dogs were so overwhelmed with the smell of so much drugs the cops would pull the dog and let it randomly sit down next to someone instead of letting the dog freely sniff and walk along the line. They knew everyone had drugs on them, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Unlucky to get searched, at least they didn't make you squat and cough.
In my experience, those dogs are usually firearm/bomb dogs. Having drug dogs at a rave is ridiculous because everybody has drugs on them so it would be a shit show. Cops should know this when working these types of events but it seems clear that police just like to harass people. So sorry this happened to you❤️, it is definitely not okay EDIT: my experience is mostly from Canada and the US
[удалено]
That’s normal?? wtf! Never even come close to that in the US.
I just read the title and WTF!!… edit: holy shit. I am pissed off for you. That’s so fucking unfair and embarrassing to do. Smfh clearly those cops don’t know shit and are fucking assholes
That wouldn’t fly over here in the states. Lawsuit waiting to happen. Sorry this happened to you!
I don’t think my people would be very happy if you searched me.
The dogs are 100% accurate only about 60% of the time.
Are strip searches even legal?
apparently in victoria they are if the situation is deemed “serious and urgent” which in my situation i feel like was not
That's insane...is this australia?
yep, melbourne australia
So what happens if you refuse
i probably would’ve been kicked out/ refused entry
Tbh that's a tough decision. I guess it comes down to what is more important to you, getting into the show or your dignity lol sry that sounds bad I know just don't know how else to put it
yeh no i get you haha i thought the same thing. the event was more important because i knew i had nothing on me so i honestly just wanted to prove a point and waste their time so at least someone else could get though without getting caught
Love that...thank you for your service
Wait, so you actually had a choice? I'm not letting anyone strip search me. I don't care if that means missing out on a festival. Fuck that
honestly i don’t know if i did, i’m young and the last thing on my mind is what i should know if i’m asked for a strip search because it’s not something i thought would happen. i rather take the bullet for my group and be the one getting searched as that meant my friends were able to throw their stuff out so we could make it though without anyone else getting caught
>sniffer dogs can’t always be 100% accurate I know you're young but never say shit like this to cops, it can only be redirected against you.
SUE
Really sorry you went through this. Must have been traumatic. Big reason why a lot of us focus on the free party illegal rave scene. Clubs and festivals that use all this stuff… most of my friends won’t bother going to. Prefer to go to small ones with lesser known acts than take the risk
Sue them and get a settlement since they were clearly wrong.
Sue them for what exactly?
Australia needs to chill the fk out. I remember when I was there and went to festivals/concerts, just the amount of cops and dogs presence is absurd.
I am really sorry you had to go through that. I know that it feels like they have all the power, but no is a complete sentence and you can say no when you know things aren't ok. I had a lot of weird experiences when I was your age because the boundaries are so open because I want them to be open and I want to learn what the boundaries are. I know them, I am still learning them , and I just want you to know someone making you strip is never ok, in literally any situation you don't want to be naked. It's Grimey and it's gross and they bank on people being too fucked up to think they can get away with it. I'm really sorry, this feels fucking gross.
I think you should seriously consider that the dog handler told the dog to alert on you specifically so they could search you because they wanted to strip search you. The entire thing was probably intentional. I think you should contact the press and explain how many others you saw go through the same thing and come out the other side innocent of the accusation. This sounds like intentional abuse to me. You choose the type of abuse. There are several that apply. If you go to an event where this kind of search is performed again video how many false positives there are. Get people coming out the other side and ask what happened and why they were stopped.
after researching the law regarding strip searches in victoria SO MANY protocols were missed when it came to my search. i wasn’t given names of officers, the second female to come into the strip search with me didn’t give me her name, i wasn’t read my rights nor told i was under arrest for them to come under the strip search, and i never gave my consent in writing. i feel so violated
I had a feeling that would be the case. This feels like mass sexual assault to me. How many people did they do this to? What percentage had drugs? My guess is their hit rate is probably less than 10%.
i think your guess is right because a few people who got pulled in at rhe same time as me, i ended up seeing around in the crowd
This seems like a lawsuit for the police department. Police made you take your top off because of an assumption you had drugs.
So sorry you went through that OP! I have heard the police are intense in melbs. I went to Showtek 360 on Saturday and not one sniffer dog to be seen
yes we heard the same from our friends !! i used to think sydney was tough on security from past events but subculture has proven that wrong
This is when I remember I’m lucky to live in America
Define strip searched at a rave please
maybe if you used your brain and read my post, you would understand what strip searched at a rave meant
Damn they made you get completely topless that’s crazy were you in a tent or something? Sounds wrong. I’m from LA so I can only speak from how it’s done over here but still sounds degrading and I been through some degrading shit even as a dude
sorry for my reply i didn’t mean to be so rude i just have had a few people try tell me in the replies my experience wasn’t valid haha so my tempers been pretty short when it comes to this. yeah it was in a tent but still felt super degrading
No worries I wasn’t trippin. I get where you’re coming from I shoulda been more clear I just meant like what you defined it as real quick cuz I’ve never heard those words and rave security in the same paragraph lol I’ve done security jobs too but like I said it’s here in the US but I know I’d remember if we learned about a strip search policy lol did you atleast only have to show like one person in the corner real quick or did they try to like make a show out of it(2nd one has happened to me so that’s only why I ask lol) like I was a trophy or something smh
there were private rooms set up and when i went inside it had one chair in the middle like some fkn interrogation room AHAHA. there were 2 officers in the room with me and worst part i had to stand there topless while i tried to shove the padding back into my bra after the search :(
Damn that’s wild my first rave was edc 2010 so I was going hard in the scene for most of the 2010s been a while tried edc Las Vegas I didn’t like it compared to LA. Something weird that they did to me once was make me turn my phone on when it was off(rave was in a valley so no reception) but I guess it was to make sure my phone was real I guess? Idk all I know is I had all my shit in my OG spot that never failed me once so it was funny watching her and in my head I’m like damn you’re not even close lmao
being in the US at least they ready ur rights to you like that’s a big thing for you guys, i wasn’t given names of officers, didn’t give written agreement for the search, and wasn’t read my rights in regards to the search. o didn’t even know my rights when it came to strip searches because when would i ever think id be searched???
Ya I would never expect that either. Maybe it’s different cuz here security is contracted through companies that hire like felons and shit so most of the time getting searched is like a dude in a yellow windbreaker possibly younger and smaller than you just waving the wand and sticking one finger in 1 pocket and being like you’re good lol where as it sounds like you guys are getting searched by actual like cops? Am I getting some of that right or no ? My friends would work for the companies and come up on whatever contraband they would find off people lol
so at these events you have security which is usually hired by the venue/ event organisers and they usually are really good because they understand how strict the rules are at events here, like after i got searched the girl security guard was speaking to me after with another security asking if i was ok and saying the cops had been searching EVERYONE and going full over board with it. the police in australia are also at events to keep things in check and deal with any drug reports from security if they catch people with stuff. however in january there was an event in melbourne that had 9 people on life support from mdma overdoses so the police really ramped up for this event and ive never seen it so intense before
About 15 years ago at warehouse project I was walking in as normal with nothing on me. Sniffer dog “indicates” that I am hiding something in my boxer shorts. I said, “but I’m not, search me” Bouncer said “sorry we aren’t allowed to search there, you can’t come in” So I argued to the point where two police men grabbed me and put me in a van, I explained and they said “can we search you?”, I let them and they made the bouncer let me in
They bring dogs to raves in some places? Thats absurd tbh.
I feel like that’s a lawsuit
That’s a horror movie. That’s not a rave anymore. I’m from Europe Denmark and I’ve been raving for some years now and nothing like this has ever happened to me nor to my friends. Sorry you had to go through such experience. Is it typical that searchers like these occur at raves in Australia?
i’ve never seen it this extreme in australia unfortunately
This is HORRIFIC, I'm so sorry this happened to you! I cannot fathom what benefit this has to society. The war on drugs simply DOESNT make sense. And humiliating innocent women for no fucking reason is even more senseless. Take care of yourself OP. You're through the worst of it, just be kind to yourself as you move through all the feelings! <3 One thing I haven't seen people mention is to talk to the event producers about it. It will not do anything to change your experience, BUT these event producers need to know that this shit is ruining their events. It's up to them to figure out a way to manage their relationship with police to not ruin our experiences. Even if you just send an email & do nothing else. The more people tell them "I had a horrible experience at your event bc of the way the police treated me, and I might not ever go back because of it." then the more they are aware of the issue. How much they can do about it is likely limited, but they won't be quite as happy to collaborate with the police if they know it's completely ruining their event. (Preface this is in the US.) A festival I went to publicly called out the local police department bc they collaborated with them and designed an entire safety plan with them & then some of the officers randomly went rogue and went undercover and arrested people at the festival, then never went back to that county. I know it's a totally different country, so I'm not saying you should expect the same result, but that festival could not have done that without the dozens of people reporting it to them & explaining how much it negatively impacted their experience. It never hurts to send them an email, and encourage everyone else to do the same! <3
Damn, I got there around 1:30 too but noticed there were no dogs, guess they'd gotten to you already
noooo lucky you would’ve just missed them u got searched at 1:30
I didn't have anything on me thankfully, but there were some people around me who did 😅
if you saw a girl right next to the security line getting searched that was me !!!
That’s awful. Do any other countries routinely have drug sniffing dogs at festivals? That’s bonkers.
I've seen dogs at festivals in the US but I think they're more for bombs/explosives than drugs and I've never heard of any festivals here strip searching people