It’s frustrating that we are having to pull officers away from our 999 response to deal with the selfish actions of the organisers of this event and those attending it.
Ian Wylie
Chief Superintendent
Avon and Somerset Police
As summer encompasses the Northern Hemisphere, in June it had already been predicted that, with the entire summer festival season effectively cancelled for the health and safety of the public due to the coronavirus: the UK is destined to see a ‘summer of illegal raves’ with young people in particular attending events in large numbers regardless of any laws put in place.
While severely irresponsible, this sadly makes sense: the public’s need for socialization, especially for youth: with many falsely believing it will not affect them (and the lack of empathy for those who are vulnerable), along with the frustration and boredom of lockdown requiring people to stay at home and the loss of face-to-face, physical connection can overcome a larger sense of empathy as well as fear, even in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
On Saturday the 18th of July however, over 3,000 people attended an illegal rave at an disused airfield near Bath in England. The rave ran from Saturday night to Sunday morning, with Avon and Somerset police stating that despite arriving on the scene early, they did not have sufficient resources to safely break up the large event until dawn.
In a report by the Avon and Somerset Police, they confirmed they had seized 5 vehicles, a generator and other equipment used by the organisers. Superintendent Ian Wylie also confirmed they had broken up a similar rave in Frome on Saturday night and were then redeployed.
They knew full well the disruption this would cause and the ongoing risk to public health of large gatherings due to Covid-19. We brought officers in from their rest days and called on support from neighbouring forces to close down this event.
Ian Wylie
Chief Superintendent
Avon and Somerset Police
Officers suspect that the organisers behind these raves may be the same people, using evasion tactics such as advertising to young people via social media on the day of the planned event, and scouting for multiple locations in order to elude the police: with a singular location being confirmed right before the event is scheduled to take place.
