Pubdate: Wed, 29 Aug 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: James Rusk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raves.htm (Raves)

MORE COULD DIE IF RAVES STIFLED, OFFICIAL WARNS

The chairman of the Toronto Board of Health warned yesterday that 
young people's lives are being endangered by police actions that are 
driving raves underground.

The chairman, Councillor Joe Mihevc, said in an interview after a 
press conference by dance promoters that if raves are forced 
underground, the city will likely experience another death like that 
of Allan Ho's. The Ryerson University student died in 1999 after 
using the drug ecstasy at an illegal rave.

"You don't know where they are, you have absolutely no control over 
water, you have absolutely no one there from ambulance services and 
no police officers there," Mr. Mihevc said.

"If it is an above-ground rave, then you have all those social 
supports and security measures there in place, and if someone does 
happen to get sick, something life-threatening happens to them, they 
can be attended to rather quickly."

Last year, Toronto Council adopted a protocol for the holding of 
raves on city property. It requires that the promoter hire police 
duty officers, provide free water and have ambulances standing by.

While council talked about needing one paid-duty officer for each 500 
patrons expected at a rave, the protocol, which promoters of raves on 
private property also try to follow, did not set guidelines for the 
number of paid-duty officers required because this was deemed an 
operational decision by the police.

At its news conference, dance-promoters' representatives said police, 
using that latitude, are trying to ruin their business by imposing 
unnecessary costs for policing the events.

Will Chang, a Toronto lawyer who is the executive director of an 
electronic-music event to be held at Nathan Phillips Square Sept. 2, 
told reporters that because of police demands some events have been 
cancelled at the last minute and a number of promoters lost thousands 
of dollars on ones that were held.

He said the police department does not have to justify the number of 
officers needed at an event, and it is now assigning five to 10 times 
as many as it did before council adopted its rules last year.

"There is no process by which to get that [policing] decision 
reviewed. It's up to the discretion [of a police officer], and 
whenever you have a discretion that is unfettered like that, it opens 
up the possibility of abuse," Mr. Chang said.

He also said that any trust that had been building up last year 
between the rave operators and the police has been broken.
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