TreatLightly
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2007
- Messages
- 3
Firstly I just have to apologise if there is something wrong with where this thread is or what it contains, nothing nasty intended
This is in response to a thread that was closed recently, speculating on the possibility of an increase in police presence at festivals and events held in NSW after the unfortunate drug-related death of a young woman after a Sydney music festival last month.
I have just returned from a weekend music festival in the Sydney region, and have had one of the strangest experiences of my festival life.
I have been attending week-long naked muddy hippy love celebrations, rude conservative teenage brain-cell massacre events and everything in between for five years. I have attend festivals as a punter, as an organiser, as an artist, as a performer, as a volunteer and as a stallholder.
I have never, ever seen a festival police force as large, as active, or as intolerant as I did last weekend.
On the opening night, a friend sitting on the grass in front of the main stage was approached by two police officers and asked to empty his bag. Upon searching they discovered three pills and 0.4 grams of cannabis- a very modest stash for any festival, clearly intended for personal use. He was escorted away, given a full body search and rectal examination, and charged with two counts of possession. He was searched again by police around an hour later after walking with a friend who was seen smoking a joint.
At around midday the next day a police helicopter flew over the site, circled twice, then flew back in the direction it had came. Presumably drugs are easier to spot from the air.
On the second night, at around 10pm, walking along a small, dimly lit path which led only to the back of our large tarpaulin and campsite, my friend and I came across two police officers sitting on the ground. They asked us if we had "Seen or heard of any drug dealers in the area," indicating our campsite. We explained that all the people camping there were volunteers working at the festival, and that none were dealers. About an hour later, while sitting around our camp, we noticed another two officers with torches looking in the windows of the car parked at the campsite adjacent to us, and having a brief look throuhg their campsite. At 3.30 am, while sleeping in my tent, I woke to the sound of movement in the campsite and radio chatter. I poked my head out to find two security guards sitting on my camp chairs, not two metres from the entrance to my tent. I asked them (quite politely for the situation) "What the f... are you doing in front of my tent?" They said they were patrolling the area. I told them that they were in the middle of my campsite. They laughed at me.
I spent the night paranoid that I had been pointed out as a potential drug dealer to police, and that I was under surveillance. Despite the fact that I had absolutely no illegal substances on me whatsover, I was completely freaked out.
I'm sure there are plenty of others who felt harassed or unfairly treated, or even just uncomfortable by the over-the-top presence of police at this festival.
What an unbelievable waste of time and energy. FTP
This is in response to a thread that was closed recently, speculating on the possibility of an increase in police presence at festivals and events held in NSW after the unfortunate drug-related death of a young woman after a Sydney music festival last month.
I have just returned from a weekend music festival in the Sydney region, and have had one of the strangest experiences of my festival life.
I have been attending week-long naked muddy hippy love celebrations, rude conservative teenage brain-cell massacre events and everything in between for five years. I have attend festivals as a punter, as an organiser, as an artist, as a performer, as a volunteer and as a stallholder.
I have never, ever seen a festival police force as large, as active, or as intolerant as I did last weekend.
On the opening night, a friend sitting on the grass in front of the main stage was approached by two police officers and asked to empty his bag. Upon searching they discovered three pills and 0.4 grams of cannabis- a very modest stash for any festival, clearly intended for personal use. He was escorted away, given a full body search and rectal examination, and charged with two counts of possession. He was searched again by police around an hour later after walking with a friend who was seen smoking a joint.
At around midday the next day a police helicopter flew over the site, circled twice, then flew back in the direction it had came. Presumably drugs are easier to spot from the air.
On the second night, at around 10pm, walking along a small, dimly lit path which led only to the back of our large tarpaulin and campsite, my friend and I came across two police officers sitting on the ground. They asked us if we had "Seen or heard of any drug dealers in the area," indicating our campsite. We explained that all the people camping there were volunteers working at the festival, and that none were dealers. About an hour later, while sitting around our camp, we noticed another two officers with torches looking in the windows of the car parked at the campsite adjacent to us, and having a brief look throuhg their campsite. At 3.30 am, while sleeping in my tent, I woke to the sound of movement in the campsite and radio chatter. I poked my head out to find two security guards sitting on my camp chairs, not two metres from the entrance to my tent. I asked them (quite politely for the situation) "What the f... are you doing in front of my tent?" They said they were patrolling the area. I told them that they were in the middle of my campsite. They laughed at me.
I spent the night paranoid that I had been pointed out as a potential drug dealer to police, and that I was under surveillance. Despite the fact that I had absolutely no illegal substances on me whatsover, I was completely freaked out.
I'm sure there are plenty of others who felt harassed or unfairly treated, or even just uncomfortable by the over-the-top presence of police at this festival.
What an unbelievable waste of time and energy. FTP
