Are Undercover Cops Asking to Join Your Camp??

[MistressSybs]

OH ya... hadn't thought about the frat boy mentality to write on your friends or the drunken party in your group...LOL

[Savannah]

Much better to paint their toenails with the best color(s) available. It's funny, but merciful. Also, most men will never get around to buying nail polish remover, & will wear it for weeks until it chips away.

[gyre]

Not sharpies.

Medical markers.

[sarahbellum911]

Someone I know was pounced upon by law enforcement for momentarily sharing a chapstick with a friend. I guess it looked like mind-altering, psychedelic Bonne Bell Lip Smacker. Trance flavor.

If I put on lip balm at a rave, you can be damn sure I'm going to hold it aloft like Simba the Lion King for ultimately visibility & make some amazing, slow, sweeping gestures first. My performances will appear in the What/When/Where guide: "Savannah Puts on Lip Balm", under "Reoccurring Events", Mon-Sun (hourly). Not to be missed.

HAHAHA Sav! That was one of my 2 interactions with the LEOS last year for doing nothing but being friendly. The incident happened in the middle of Root Thursday night...the phrase "It's F-ing Chapstick" while waving it about still rings in my ears...twas so much fun to watch them run away that I made it a little game the rest of the week. They got me at OT Sat night just before sunrise....and omg it was a cinnamon disk!

I considered it my gift to the community as a whole...carry hard candy or other small things you can gift or slide into peoples mouths after a whisper in the ear and watch how fast they show up. The best thing about it...they are so focused on you they miss the other people slipping away. Then they have to leave the area and start over since everyone notices a gang of cops with flashlights.

Oh and we did try to take their pic Sat night...much to our dismay, the lights they carry have a strobe feature and it ruins night photos when pointed directly at the camera. <mutters>

[gyre]

Was the strobe visible?
The flicker?

Such things can be overcome.

FYI, a few infrared leds on a headband will dazzle most night surveillance cameras.
You can guess what a bright or focused one might do.
Frequencies vary, of course.

[geospyder]

Strobes on flashlights are normally used to temporarily blind and disorient an oncoming attacker. There is a new device being tested called the Dazer Laser Gun. It uses a pool of green laser light to do the same thing. It might prove to be more effective and less harmful than a taser.

[Savannah]

HAHAHA Sav! That was one of my 2 interactions with the LEOS last year for doing nothing but being friendly.

Yup, I was thinking of you, without wanting to name names.

[ibdave]

Was the strobe visible?
The flicker?

Such things can be overcome.

FYI, a few infrared leds on a headband will dazzle most night surveillance cameras.
You can guess what a bright or focused one might do.
Frequencies vary, of course.

Got to Love gyre....

[gyre]

Thanks, Dave.

Just some fun facts, you know?

[stiles]

Was it last year or the year before they were busting all the incoming cars at greeter gate for open containers?

I've seen people getting nabbed who were just unforgivably stupid, and we've gotten narcs in our bar at least once a year since 2005. As others have mentioned, they are the ones who are pushy about getting drugs.

The funny thing was, I drove a fully built, nasty-fast unmarked chevy ex-state police pursuit car to the burn for several years straight (spotlight,deck lights and all). It confused the shit out of the greeters.

I showed it to one of the narcs. He was impressed and left us alone for the rest of the burn but didn't admit to anything.

I saw an obviously underage kid at a camp's public bar last year as well. He didn't get served. Bottom line, don't be stupid, be aware of the law and your rights and kick out any kids hanging around your bar while alcohol is present and you should be fine.

[silkkat813]

Question: what can they bust you for if you are letting someone smoke in your camp? I've had people stop in my camp offering me smoke and I turn it down (cause it only makes me sleepy). But can I get in trouble for letting them smoke?

[theCryptofishist]

At the very least there will be scrutiny and attempts to search the camp.
But others are going to be better at explaining all this.

[Pink Daddy]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted this yet, but it has some great information if you happen to come across law enforcement personnel on the playa. I have the bottom part on a little card that I put in my packback.

http://sites.google.com/site/lawyersforburners/

[steverothrider]

A few things occur to me...

1. The paranoids are after me.

2. If all this paranoia, I mean caution, is truly warranted then all I have to say is HOLY SHIT !!!!...

BM is THE last bastion of organized anti-establishment, free-thinking, liberal minded, out of the box, creative, fun, friendly folks on earth place to hang. My first time there I was amazed at how many friendly strangers there were. And now to have to suspect any stranger in need of a buzz of being a LEO?... How sad :(

I KNOW there are LEOs there, not naive, but not paranoid either. Just gonna do my partying under the radar. Just like ANYwhere.

I have a feeling that many of these "LEO encounters" are just dorky newbs or dirt poor leeches.

I also think that most of the "weird camp requests" are just poor planners.

Still wise to disavow any knowledge of controversial subject matter with unknown peeps. I guess.

BM is so friggin mainstream now.

So much for radical self expression.

[Eric]

2. If all this paranoia, I mean caution, is truly warranted then all I have to say is HOLY SHIT !!!!...

you are free to ignore as much advise as you like. Ignorance is bliss and all that.

BM is so friggin mainstream now.
So much for radical self expression.

yep.

[theCryptofishist]

BM is THE last bastion of organized anti-establishment, free-thinking, liberal minded, out of the box, creative, fun, friendly folks on earth place to hang.

I love quotes like this.

[Eric]

BM is THE last bastion of organized anti-establishment, free-thinking, liberal minded, out of the box, creative, fun, friendly folks on earth place to hang.

I love quotes like this.

Apparently Steve doesn't read all the threads here- like the political ones.

Anti-establishment, yep, pretty much. But not all.

Liberal-minded? Eh..... some of us yes, some of us no. The Bmorg is, but not all Burners.

"Last Bastion"? fuck, I hope not.

[Simon of the Playa]

BM is so friggin mainstream now.

sit down, shut the fuck up, and drink the goddamn kool-aid.

[steverothrider]

Nope, haven't read the political threads.... me thinks I shouldnt.

It just seems that many of the founding principles of BM are now compromised.

Also seems that to have to suspect every wierd stranger wanting to join camp or partake of substances as LE is counter to BM spirit.

I'm also a realist and know that THE MAN will always be messing with the peasants enforcing silly ass control freak laws.

I say "BURN THE MAN".

In fact i'm gonna construct a giant effigy of a man, invite all my cool friends and burn his ass to the ground!

Any ideas where I can do that?

[capjbadger]

In fact i'm gonna construct a giant effigy of a man, invite all my cool friends and burn his ass to the ground!

Any ideas where I can do that?

I hear the beaches of SF are nice this time of year.

-Badger

[Eric]

Nope, haven't read the political threads.... me thinks I shouldnt.

It just seems that many of the founding principles of BM are now compromised.

I'm avoiding the political threads now- nothing worse than arguing politics online. Just gets you banging your head into the wall.

As for the core principles- I don't think they're completely compromised. Honestly- they're just "principles", not laws. You know, Ideas To Try To Follow as opposed to Ordered We Must Obey.

The reality is that Burning Man exists in the real world, and the laws of the real world don't cease to exist at the Gate. Law enforcement follows those laws, its not something the Bmorg has a choice in. Most of the LEO's are fine, quite a few of them are Burners themselves, but that doesn't mean some of them aren't going to go fishing in a well stocked pond. Play smart, you'll be fine. Act like you're in Wonderland.... well, you've read the stories on here.

As always, YMMV

[Magpie Sparkles]

[quote="Shambala"]Oh how you eplayan burner freaks inspire me!

I made up a bunch of very cool, police specific swag to pass out to any suspected police or undercover cops. This something that any cop would actually want to commemerate the event for them. Instead of me being a jerk, I will just offer this piece of swag and say "aren't you a cop"? This is full color with a police shield on it with the symbol of the man and the word POLICE across the front. I can also pass it out to anyone underage looking for alcohol to entrap me. "Hey kid, can you give this to your dad for me"?[/quote]

Yeah last year we covertly slapped a Londonn parking ticket on the back of an undercover police officer as he was leaving our camp. One of our guys went up, hugged him and thanked him for coming and slapped it right on his back.

[theCryptofishist]

From what I understand, Burningman wasn't founded with priciples at all. It just sort of happened. And back in the early brd burns there were different people pulling it in different directions, some of which became the llc and put some of their principles on it retroactively.

And yeah, principles are kind of like the "ideal gas" anyways.

[Marscrumbs]

Email the law enforcement camp and say you've in the dog house with the sergant up in Buffalo Fart Montana and you've been assign without prior notice to work Burning Man for the week. Where do I report at the gate? Once your in drop off at their camp and steal their configated stash, their shoelaces and walkie talkies then split.

[dj_john69]

Wanna have fun with the under covers ?? Buy some marijuana scented incense sticks and place around random areas along the Playa. They will go ape shit trying to find the people smoking weed everywhere while wasting mass amounts of their time. LOL

[Savannah]

I like your spirit, but I feel bad for the poor sucker who gets searched by the police because the ambient scent on his clothes or tent is deemed sufficient grounds for a search.

Also, incense sticks are moop.

(I ruin everything).

[Packoderm]

It would be funny for burners to share hand rolled cigarettes and smoke tobacco from bongs that have never been exposed to weed.

[Packoderm]

How about marijuana scented incense burners that are art?

[geekster]

Reminds me of something some GIs used to do when I was in the Army many years ago. In Germany they didn't have pot but they did have hash. The barracks always had floors buffed to a glass sheen using melted Johnson's Paste Wax. Also, the MPs would raid said barracks from time to time with dogs sniffing for things.

So some guys decided to take a little bit of hash, warm it up, and crumble it into the paste wax then pour it out on the floor. The dogs would alert in the stairwell before they even got onto the floor and they were just useless once they were in the hallway. Hell, I would bet there was a half a kilo of hash built up on that floor between strippings (done maybe once every two years).

[theCryptofishist]

Pachyderm
this has been argued ad nauseum elsewhere on the board.
Just sayin'.