Security
From Freetekno
[edit] ideas on how to deal with security
These are suggestions that have been taken from the freetekno message board, various discussions with folks. The pros and cons are also taken from these sources. Add any more that haven’t been mentioned.
[edit] Maintain an unorganised structure
In short, just keep Teknival the same as it was this year, and let whatever situations be dealt with how they were dealt with this year: DIY, unorganised.
Pros:
- it worked this year, so why won’t it work again
- no need for organisation
Cons:
- what if no one *deals* with the threat, and a serious incident happens, drawing the cops/ambulance etc
- not as prepared as we could be
[edit] Non-violent methods
Using methods of non-violence like: talking people down, community pressure, throwing nets over people, use of shields in case of attack etc.
Pros:
- would not escalate a violent situation (ie: violence begets more violence and this would prevent that from happening)
- would prevent us from becoming “enforcers” using violent methods, which would make us no better than the authoritarian police force we all dislike so much
Cons:
- may not be an effective method of dealing with a situation. Ie: a person using non-violent methods might just get hurt.
- does not allow for self defense
- people must run around with shields?
[edit] Limit the accessibility of the party
This has been suggested in ways like:
- only have sound systems and their crew, and their friends invited
- not promoting in *raver* areas, like torontoraves etc.
- promoting like mad, but limiting access to the *real* information (like location, time, directions etc)
- limiting sound systems to ones that throw free parties year round
- releasing information about the festival a very short time in advance (12 hours)
Pros:
- will not have so much of a problem with folks who just want to do lots of drugs and be thugly all weekend showing up.
- Will make it so that a tighter knit community develops
- Will draw only the *really dedicated* people
Cons:
- limiting to only sound systems and friends will not expose new folks to the scene and may lead to stagnation
- limiting sound systems that only throw free parties year round will limit participation of some super folks that can only manage to do one free party a year (ie: Northtek)
- limiting access prevents the spreading of the teknival ideology.
[edit] Place the onus on sound systems to be able to deal with problems
Essentially, make it so that there were people from each sound system designated to deal with messy security situations. Giving authority to sound stages to take care of problems that arise.
Pros:
- people would know where to turn to
Cons:
- the sound stages then become the authority, maybe some of the folks doing sound stages don’t want this.
- too much centralised organisation
[edit] Have tight security on site
Have a *gate* or some such thing that would have *security* to monitor who got in and what they brought with them, and turn down people based on….. whether they looked like they were going to cause trouble or not (help me on this one, as I don’t quite understand how it would work)
Pros:
- wouldn’t let the thugly types get in
- wouldn’t allow for weapons to get in
Cons:
- it’s illegal to prohibit access to anyone on crown land
- we start judging who is fit to enter, thus becoming authoritarian
[edit] Voluntary *security* (raver-ninja) force
Basically a group of folks who volunteer to walk around the party, with walkies/radios and just keep informed on the goings-on, and break up any situations that arise.
Pros:
- people who might cause problems would know that there were people willing to deal with it, and therefore might be less likely to start any nasty situation
- lots of communication within the festival as to what’s going on
- doing it on a volunteer basis means that no one is stuck with a task that they don’t think they could handle
Cons:
- getting enough volunteers
- walkies/radios maintaining function throughout the festival
- coordinating so there were always some volunteers *on duty* so to speak
- don’t like the idea of having “security” on site
[edit] Educate
Provide more educational material on website, through word of mouth etc, on what the freetekno/teknival scene is “supposed” to be about. Like: community based, no money exchange, respect, non-violence, sustainability etc. Let people know to get their party favours before hand.
Pros:
- will help ensure that the “right” type of people are coming to the festival
- will potentially hinder thuglies/giant drug dealers from attending
- Will give participants more of an idea of how things function at teknival.
Cons:
- might be hard to spread the good word consistently as everyone has slightly different ideas about what freetekno/teknival is “supposed” to be
[edit] Karma ninjas
Basically have a volunteer group that would be walkie-d and marked. They would communicate on what security problems were occurring and then deal with the offenders by doing nasty things to their camp like: stink bombing, soaking tents etc.
Pros:
- would make people aware that nasty behaviour would not go unnoticed.
- Would motivate people who were security problems to leave and not come back ever again, and tell their friends how much it sucked too
- would turn thugs into word of mouth disseminators of being good and not bad
Cons:
- might escalate situations
- might put ninjas in more danger (retaliation like).
[edit] New event
Start a new event, with a new name and a new date.
Pros:
- would give a fresh new start to the scene
- would scale back participants
Cons:
- would scale back participants
- would prevent building on something that’s already been started
[edit] Have a separate area for cars
Have areas dedicated to parking and have people haul stuff to their camps.
Pros:
- avoid some of the sketchiness that happens
Cons:
- it’s a damn far way to walk
- people can lock their belongings in their car and negate a certain evil aspect of people wanting to root through tents
[edit] Violence
Respond to security problems with violence.
Pros:
- might be a good way to stop bad situations
Cons:
- Violence sucks!
- High potential for the police being involved (much harder to not call them in if there’s someone in need of an ambulance)
- We become just as bad as the thugs we are trying to get rid of.
