I’ve waited a bit to post this as I wanted to be completely sure of my facts and check a few sources as its quite a shocking development…
I recently attended a party in the outer London area – I won’t say too much more as I don’t want to hot up any particular crew – I just want to highlight a situation.
As usual some cops turned up in a traffic vehicle (the sort of car used to catch boy racers) and did the usual look around/chat to “organisers” etc….
I happened to be able to look down the approach road to the venue; where I saw a second cop car turn up, but discreetly wait at the end of the road. Now you always expect cops to have some backup, but they didn’t immediately approach the first patrol car and park up next to it like the backup normally does..
It was a big estate car, the sort that lots of kit would be carried in.The officers inside there did not get out, just waited. I had my own suspicions about this vehicle being an ARV (Armed Response Vehicle).
I recently found a site which has loads of photos of UK emergency vehicles, and out of curiosity had a look on the site. Within seconds I saw an identical car; clearly designated as “Metropolitan Police Firearms Unit” (or “Trojan” in cop-speak!). Same model, same markings, only difference was the ident letters on the side where one letter had changed (presumably as this one was from a different area).
In my home area of the Thames Valley I have also been aware of ARVs keeping a discreet eye on raves in 2001 (in pretty much the same fashion as the metpol unit above); this appears to be a reaction to the rise of the UK Garage scene, a high-profile shooting in a Reading nightclub and the shooting of a former record company boss….
TVP thankfully stopped sending them to the raves after a while when they worked out the people putting them on did not play Garage and would have nothing whatsoever to do with firearms!
This is however the first time I have seen an ARV in the vicinity of a London rave…
To reassure people I’d point out that the cops were not deploying any kind of firearm; and I think they are only there because urban music has got such a negative reputation and there have been so many reports of violence at raves recently the cops are expecting some kind of gun trouble.
Bear in mind the UKG scene also uses the term “rave”, there have also been unlicensed UKG parties (with high entry prices and high levels of violence including shootings) – cops are not usually experts on urban music genres….. ( I think this is a major factor in this situation!)
It does make you wonder what Scotland Yard (and other forces where raves happen) really are starting to think about raves and their culture.
Just because we don’t talk to cops doesn’t mean that local people in areas where raves happen don’t give their own exaggerated stories to them; as well as NHS staff who patch up the injuries that ravers sometimes get through violence at raves (the NHS don’t pass on names but they do pass on details about how many people they are treating and in which locations casualties present from
I hope though that the armed police never ever have to even consider deploying those weapons at a rave. This is one time when I would be happy to see my tax being spent for those cops to sit in the canteen and eat pies with their guns resting safely in the armoury….
