The new Pershing County Sheriff promised to get the arrest count up from last year, and he’s already delivered – 12 arrests and an unknown number of citations. At least one Burner has been reported sitting in a jail cell after dogs discovered all his stash in a search of his vehicle.
A highway patrol crackdown on I-80 also netted a lot of valuable citations for the under-funded police.
From the Reno Gazette Journal:
Pershing County Sheriff’s deputies have made about 12 arrests so far since Burning Man opened its gates Sunday morning, with some arrests made and citations issued even before the festival started.
“Its kind hard to track because we’ve had so many as we speak,” Pershing County Undersheriff Tom Bjerke said Tuesday. “There were some before that. Most of it at this point is for controlled substances and maybe battery witnessed by the officer.”
…Bjerke said he absolutely expected more arrests as the festival continues. Details on the arrests made were not immediately available.
“We’ve seen a much, much bigger crowd earlier in the event this year,” Bjerke said. “The information system is being overloaded because of a combination of factors.”
That includes bad communication between deputies at the playa and officers at the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
“We don’t have the best equipment in the world here, and we’re trying to communicate with a lot of outdated stuff,” Bjerke said…“We’re making more arrests because we have more officers out there,” he said. “We’re issuing citations for personal dope and seizing the dope and going on with the event.
Most Burners arrested on drug-related charges “made a life mistake,” Bjerke said. Those mistakes shouldn’t take away from the event, he said.
“You have a choice a lot of the times to arrest someone or issue a citation and a lot of the times it’s easier to issue a citation.”
[Source: RGJ]
Read the full story at the RGJ.
What sort of stuff are they trying to communicate with? Did their radios stop working? How hard can it be to write up a citation or put handcuffs on someone and drive them to jail in your car?
At least they have enough technology now to make life easier for their dogs.
[image published in Daily Mail removed at request of photo subject]
The Nevada Highway Patrol have been cracking down on Burners, too. The RGJ again:
A crackdown on speeding and traffic violations along Interstate 80 ended with 245 traffic stops from the California state line to Lovelock, the Nevada Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Eleven state law enforcement agencies finished the three-day effort to eliminate fatalities across the 2,900 mile long Interstate 80 on Monday. Authorities focused on enforcing the I-80 corridor throughout the weekend.
A total of 119 drivers were cited from the California State line to Lovelock, NHP spokesman Trooper Duncan Dauber said in a news release.
Authorities conducted 245 traffic stops, gave 111 warnings and inspected 21 commercial vehicles. A total of 12 crashes were reported and two drivers were cited for seat belt violations.
Thousands of vehicles traveled across I-80 over the weekend to attend Burning Man, about 110 miles north of Fernley.
The Nevada Highway Patrol released the following statement on the increase in traffic:
“The goal of the I-80 Challenge is simple: saving lives. Saving lives starts with a change in driving behavior. With local media assisting in the distribution of the message and its importance, the weekend here in Northern Nevada concluded fatality free.”
Although this year’s I-80 Challenge has concluded, the state wants to reiterate that every day is an opportunity to focus on driving safe and staying alive.”
State wide, 18 crashes were reported. A total of 182 traffic citations were issued, plus 294 speeding citations. Authorities also arrested eight drivers on a driving under the influence charge and four on drug-related charges.
At a glance
Northern Nevada traffic stops:
Number of Crashes: 12
Number of Fatal Crashes: 0
Number of Fatalities: 0
Number of Speed Citations: 62
Number of Seat Belt Violations: 2
Number of Traffic Citations: 119
Number of Warnings: 111
Number of DUI Arrests: 7
Number of Drug Arrests: 0
Number of Stops: 245
Number of Commercial Vehicle Inspections: 21
Mileage Driven: 8057 miles
Statewide traffic stops:
Number of Crashes: 18
Number of Fatal Crashes: 0
Number of Fatalities: 0
Number of Speed Citations: 294
Number of Seat Belt Violations: 11
Number of Traffic Citations: 182
Number of Warnings: 359
Number of DUI Arrests: 8
Number of Drug Arrests: 4
Number of Stops: 840
Number of Commercial Vehicle Inspections: 21
Mileage Driven: 20105 miles
Source: Nevada Highway Patrol
[Source: Reno Gazette Journal]
The photo in this article is from an entirely positive interaction with the BLM. Well, they broke one of our toys in their exuberance, but that was from having fun and not because they were harassing us. This photo is from an inspection of our pyro features on the art car and the officers were chatting with the crew. The BLM did not interfere with our art car or prevent us from expressing our fun with fire effects. We also had plenty of crew nearly nude all week and I heard of no problems with law enforcement. If things got ugly out there, it is good that LEO is there for us and they did nothing that I saw to impede our enjoyment.
Any bike thiefs caught?
Overheard in between bites of choco-tacos.
“So little time, so many hippies, so much money to be made, LETS GO!!!”
“I feel like a kid in the candy store out there, so much money to be made”
“It is great because we don’t have to do any planing, the Borg does all the work of luring in the hippies. We just go out there and shoot fish in a barrel”
“I have always hated this festival, rave or whatever you want to call it. It has never done a thing for my county, but it will now. It will. Now it will be our Christmas sales. We will make enough in one week to fund our department all year”
“My only regret is not having more boots on the ground out there, it wrenches my stomach to think of how much money we could be making out there. We will double out boots on the ground next year and quadruple our revenues”
“The best part is that I got a great deal on used bikes for my kids!”
That’s how so many are treating it… I’m not attending, haven’t in some years. But I’ve been looking at the instagram posts, reading developments. Felt nostalgic, but now… I’ve been talking to rich plug n players via instagram this week, and their attitude is pretty dark. I’ve seen the fake native American headdresses. When I mention to them that it’s better to not* wear that junk outside the event through Paiute land on the way to and from – as some photos showed they did – their response is venomous (American or foreign.)
And I’ve read more about their concierge camps, fly ranch development efforts, further future event and other items.
I just don’t recognize the event or culture anymore.
I’m not pulling a “hater” card and I never bought into any rosy image of burning man back in 2001 when I first went. I’m just really shocked, sad. It is what it is, will continue to expand. But, man…
I understand the need for law enforcement, particularly given the growing size of the population. People get raped, robbed, etc. I was almost hit by small rogue fireworks that someone was shooting out nearly horizontally. So, yes, some regulation and control is needed. But it it needs to be done in a balanced way. I don’t think that is being done now, based on experiences I’ve read, and my own experience with LE years ago.
At Transformus, LE is only available on-call off-site, since Mysteria is held on private property. They do have on-site private “Security,” a bunch of amiable biker tough guys that hang near the center burn ground. But they don’t patrol; they are on call by the Mysteria Rangers, so the equivalent of the BRC Rangers ARE the LE in Mysteria.
Yeah, having bikers as security has always proven to be a great idea.
Yeah, I’ll pass.
Uh… yeah! Transformus was pure mayhem due to the security Just like Altamont, but they covered it all up.
Bottom line: Don’t even think about ever going!! Don’t bother to ask anyone that was there – they will just lie to you.
I respect your efforts to keep the gathering you like under wraps. That said, that kind of private security doesn’t scale.
Also called harassment! 800 stops what harm are these people causing none go fight actual crime real wrong that’s happening all over county, city, state child abuse, animal abuse, theft, these are actual crimes that immoral actual criminals commit harming society fight real crimes and quit ruining good peoples lives with harsh criminal charges that smear names and ability to work and do nothing but affect good peoples right to make an honest earning/living aka SURVIVAL in the real world criminal back grounds smeared by frivolous harmless trumped up charges don’t help society they pay the debts made to keep our unfair wrong corrupt inefficient judicial system running so unethical people who work for them can make a living doing barley anything good to help society. Unethical cold blooded DA’s, counties, private prisons profiting, needing money to get a decent lawyer to fight unlawful charges it’s all just so wrong and sad and unjust. I bet these “DUI” charges weren’t for alcohol, and if so most likely under .08. If you have to repeatedly perform a rode side test of a persons motor functions they obviously aren’t too intoxicated to drive and aren’t unsafe if you have to lie to be able to give them breathe test your are breaking the law bending laws to screw someone it’s not right and happens way too much illegal searches, unnecessary excessive force are all abuse of laws that citizens have a right to be protected by and have a right to have ethical law enforement enforce. Cops exist to help citizens in society not harm and abuse them. Biggest gang in America the police force!
Hippies, hipsters, trustafarians, school teachers on spirit quests – all of them can learn a lot from a few nights in jail.
We can all learn something from a lot of experiences. We could all learn something from being in jail. But that’s not really the exact purpose of jails.
The 840 stops were across the whole state – only 245 in Northern Nevada. 7/8 DUIs were in the North, but none of the drug arrests.
Pershing County’s stats at Burning Man are different, it sounds like more citations than they can count.
I agree that cops should be stopping child and animal abuse instead of pulling over Burners for having bikes in front of their license plate.
Are you meaning of animal abuse in the manner of requiring dogs to breathe the most horrible playa dust, destroying their noses, purposed to cite hippies for solely a tad of marijuana, of which, are most of the citations? In addendum of the most bloody paws of the dogs in due of due of the playa dust?
Kudos to Jenny Kane, of the Reno Gazette Journal, in regards of her awesome reporting on Dust Man 2015. In addendum, she obtained an update upon the rubbish statements of the Pershing County Sheriff, and his posse. My belief it is of 12 arrests, of which, perchance, one is of domestic abuse, one is of assault, and 83 citations. It is most uncertain if the citations are due of the 31 wankers of the Pershing County Sheriff posse, or in addendum of the near to 80 of the BLM and their mates.
The media reporting on Burning Man is most strange within 2015, few reports are being sent to the default world. I do not know the rationale of why this might be.
Since this is not Oklahoma (or Wyoming, I forget which), it’s not a felony to acquire data for the government to use to enforce laws. So, some videos of the on-playa dog abuse would be good to acquire and forward to the ASPCA. After all, dogs were banned from the event years ago (as were guns and speeding) – is it right to commit these transgressions under color of law?
http://www.aspca.org/
http://www.aspca.org/sites/default/files/styles/feature_slider_980x300/public/august-week-4-homepage-dogfighting.jpg
So how is it that drugs dogs are able to keep their “wet” noses free of dust and smell perfectly out there? I’m willing to bet that a dog that’s been out there a week has greatly reduced smelling capability. This could be proven in tests,and if it were, then a case would be established for LE not being able to justify dog behavior as an excuse to search vehicles. My guess is that LE’s real MO is that they look at the vehicle and passengers, and if they don’t like what they see, they give a covert signal to the dog to lay down.
You don’t need playa dust…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/drug-sniffing-dogs-unconstitutional-search_n_2956079.html
Impossible to prove either way, but very plausible . In airports they can’t work longer than 45 minutes. The dog is actually getting high. The playa is really atrocious conditions for such a highly trained and valuable service animal to be working. Just to make a few hundred bucks per citation? Shameful.
“…they give a covert signal to the dog to lay down.” Test have shown that the dog handler need not make a willful signal, though that is possible and illegal (actually a Class D Felony in NV – giving false evidence in a misdemeanor charge). The dog can read the handler and signal drugs when the handler gives unconscious cues of his suspicion.
Keep in mind that SCOTUS has upheld their ability to reject LE applicants due to high IQ. Not only does this limit how smart cops are, but fosters a less-intelligent LE culture. There are less/less smart leaders to establish the group interaction and esprit de corp. It is denying the natural tendency of a modern society described in Murray’s Bell Curve, where smart people can find each other and work together. In fact, that partially explains why they as a group, tend not to like “smart-ass” burners because their collective LE community IQ has often been capped.
Sort of riding the short bus to drive the paddy wagon.
It’s not quite fair to say that burners are necessarily more intelligent. Particularly in recent years, one might say that burners are in some ways more wealthy or enterprising. Maybe LEOs are jealous of people on a vacation, especially when some of them are rich and naked?
And, yes, I’ve been (10+ years ago). I was bothered by overenthusiastic law enforcement back then. I cannot imagine how over-the-top it is now. (I was harassed by a LEO for sitting near a distant art installation. No drugs, no booze, no nudity, no antics. Just sitting there. And that was 2003.)
As the Bell Curve studies showed, intelligence is an inverse predictor for incarceration. That is, for you cops out there, the dumber you are the more likely you will be put in prison. So as a selected group, cops are comfortable, with their 104 IQs, imposing their will on typical criminals – at least those they catch. Now as the NV burn more and more becomes the default world, the cops will find more comfortable targets.
But the other side of the incarceration aspect to intelligence in the Bell Curve, is that more intelligent people, in general, are more civil and abiding in common law. They tend to get along and need less involvement of LE. And as the NV burn becomes the default world, there will be more for LE to do. In fact, I was surprised at the domestic abuse incident report, and wonder how common that was 5 and 10 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/TheBellCurve.gif
I don’t tend to think of cops as the brightest bulbs, but within their scope of knowledge there are probably some sharper tacks.
Burners on the other hand are a very mixed bag, you have rocket scientists, clueless types who feel intellectually superior, mush brained sparkletards, geeks that are high functioning within the box of their own existence, smart AND genuine people, shit disturbers, douchebros, hippie ravers who poop where they eat and talk about enlightenment non-stop, total dicks who pride themselves on being total dicks, dumb AND genuine people, funny motherfuckers, performers of every stripe, celebs who are amazed at how vast Coachella has become, master chefs who like to eat a lot (and then keep eating), and of course, camp nazis, camp saviors (the ones doing the work), earnest people who haven’t pooped all week (because they’re that earnest), people who listen to Larry and actually believe he makes sense, people who believe Marian is genuine, guys in the med tent with their dick stuck in a bottle of whiskey, and all the ripe dirt hippies who don’t remember how they got there and are hoping you will accept their one string guitar solo in exchange for some baked beans.
Lolol! This is a work of true genius.
I go for the smart and genuine people, and have met lots out there. I have also met almost every other type listed! Brilliant comment , thanks
Ha! That’s a great, Pynchon-esque piece of writing, dusty. And true. Nomad, your view that burners are smart and cops are not is simplistic at best. I do think a lot people living in Pershing and Washoe counties don’t approve of what goes on at Burning Man, but it’s got nothing to do with intelligence. I’ve met some shit-stupid burners, lots of them, actually. And I’ve met, and know personally, some very smart cops. Political leanings and lifestyles, as well has surface things like college degrees, don’t automatically correlate with intelligence. And of course, there are many types of intelligence aside from being good at test taking. It’s simply too reductive and neat to proclaim cops disapprove of Burning Man because their stupid.
Please read my comments. At NO time did I ever suggest that burners were smarter than cops. I said cops were not smart enough to deal with the NV burn event, as measured against those whom otherwise might be a LEO and better understand it. This LEO segregation by IQ explains why the FBI has different criteria, and they need to “call them in” when things are challenging to a 104 IQ.
I DID say that years ago, when the burn was a self-selecting attendance, the burners were smarter than the burners coming today, and needed less LE.
You’re saying cops aren’t as smart as early burn populations, then, which I also don’t buy. Those brilliant burners in 1996 ran over a guy sleeping in a tent, and almost hurt numerous others during the incredibly dangerous HELCO show, not to mention the drug-induced medical issues were as rampant, if not more so, back then as today. There are more cops now because there are more people in BRC now. Sure, there are also more yahoos, but I’d bet the yahoo to contributing burner ratio isn’t much higher now. There were lots of looky-loos in the 90s, mostly dudes gawking at the naked chicks.
“You’re saying cops aren’t as smart as early burn populations.” Nope. Again, you are making that up. But yes, I did say the earlier pre-bike-theft burners were more intelligent than the post-bike-theft burners. You can cite whatever impressions you have, but unless you can cite some reasonable statistics, the most obvious thing most burners would observe is bike theft. There is no question that it has increased over the past 10 years, and I am offering one contributing explanation.
You’re implying it, then.
I agree with you that as soon as the meatheads glom on to something, that something gets spoiled, be it punk rock or Burning Man.
Nope. Read my comments again. Never implied that comparison. I always was complaining about the universe of people from whom they choose cops, that it was legally limited by IQ – specifically choosing 104 IQ over 125 IQ, and the consequences. This limits what the cops can deal with, be it festivals, crime, taxes, or understanding politics. Has nothing to do with the relative IQ of any burner.
Why let the facts get in the way of a good, self-righteous rant.
The problem with many Burners I have known is that they have a mentality of entitlement that the current laws don’t apply to them; especially when it comes to drug laws. While we all may not agree with those laws, they are still the laws of the land and if you choose to break them, then you accept the risk of the consequences that go along with it.
Of course they still want to bitch about the unfairness of it all while completely discounting the aspect of white privilege inherent to this event which only results in a high priced citation most of the time versus the type of treatment and incarceration that many other races experience throughout our country.
“We’re issuing citations for personal dope and seizing the dope and going on with the event.”. Imagine that happening to our lesser privileged citizens anywhere else in the country.
It’s a good point.
In a real and global context, there are laws, and then there are laws. There used to be laws against interracial marriage, laws against abortion, laws against gay marriage, laws against smoking weed, laws against prostitution. These have all been mitigated over time, and do not exist in some locations/countries.
Focusing enforcement on any laws that simply don’t exist elsewhere, where there is still a civil society, presumes complete and satisfactory enforcement of all the other laws that ALL modern societies rely on – like assault, battery, and theft to name just three. But to do the opposite is arguably uncivilized. If you don’t worry about my stolen bike but do worry about a bar serving alcohol to an underage burner, you are wasting your time and salary. But if you are that cop, you likely have no more than a average IQ and really don’t have the information and intelligence to understand.
Good luck tracking down a bike thief. I agree law enforcement should concentrate on laws that threaten personal safety, and I think for the most part those incidences, when they do occur, take precedence. But you can’t really predict those, this isn’t the Minority Report. And they don’t occur that frequently, thankfully, especially considering how many people are in BRC. Drug offenses, however, occur almost constantly and law enforcement can and do witness them first hand. So, I think the citation/arrest stats are more the result of practical reality.
That said, things like ticketing for bikes covering a license plate are bullshit.
But ticketing for an obstructed plate is easy to do with a 104 IQ, as is entrapment, and using your trained drug dog to identify 200%+ of those who have drugs.
That being said, the dumb burners who get caught with drugs deserve their fate. But that is whole aspect that comes with the dumb burners.
“Good luck tracking down a bike thief.” It would be easier to catch a bike thief by VERY casual entrapment, than catch a bar serving underage (which requires prima-facia abuse of an underage person). Just choose a few bikes to watch at center camp, and put tracking devices on some others.
Once the word got out that people were being caught and reprimanded, and then removed from the event for repeat offenses, bike thefts would plummet. Easy to do, but not sexy. But if you appreciate common law, you would see that preventing common theft is important to induce all to be more abiding of common law. And theft is an internationally-recognized crime*, not an artifact of local laws.
(* If you served 100 16yo people and then skipped off to France or Spain, no chance of extradition because drinking at that age is not a crime there. But if you stole 100 bikes, extradition would be at play.)
Instead, LE does entrapment for giving free drinks to 16yo kids in a bar. (What a bunch of LE pussies!) And what does that entrapment encourage… Distrust at the bar and some deciding not to do a bar at all. How good did that feel?
I like your idea about bike theft entrapment and how word of that would quickly spread. That ain’t gonna happen, though, because as you say, it’s unsexy. And the the good citizens of Pershing and Washoe counties don’t care about some hippie’s bike getting stolen, but they do care that someone, somewhere, might be having a good time on drugs. ‘Cause drugs are bad, mmkay? And you know, sheriffs are elected officials. Gotta appease the constituents.
Totally agree. It’s always a risk to bring drugs. And anyway, weed? Jesus. Bring something a little more interesting and less odiferous, already, if you don’t want to get busted.
Another example of wasted resources tax payers money not fight crime!
totally worth it just for the DUI requests!