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Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
I've heard quite a bit about clubs getting raided. What is it like? Is it like one giant ambush, or what? I'm very curious to know. I heard about the Spearmint Rhino's here in Vegas getting raided and over 70-something (I believe) girls got arrested. I just want to know how this process works.
Oh, and also - what was your first night like as a stripper? What did you think of the other girls, the men, etc? I wanna hear your experiences! x
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
I cannot say much abt raids as I have been fortunate enough not to experience one. If you feel your club may be in serious danger of a raid & you have other options, I would suggest trying them.
As for my first nite, it has varied according to the club & the culture among the girls/customers. My very first club, most ignored me but one girl was good enough to help me w/ makeup (I had no idea how to even do smtg so basic as select an eyeshadow lol) & go onstage w/ me the first time. She & another girl, when it was slow, taught me sm basic pole twirls & simple dance moves. It was also the kind of place where a customer would ask a bouncer what a particular girl tipped him each nite, then pay him more to look the other way, regardless of whether the girl was agreeable. I saw that one girl actually kept a razor blade in her shoe for those occasions. Most places I have worked have not been nearly that bad, but I would float around a bit, try different clubs until I found one that worked for me.
I have tried clubs where the house girls were extremely clique-ish (that led to fights & firings for yours truly) & clubs where I received neutral to sm what positive welcomes.
My worst experiences w/ customers were probably in Daytona & I tried three different clubs there, tho I only had problems w/ other girls maybe two or three times in my yr+ in that area. It's a dirty city full of dirty, extremely aggressive customers, tho I found tourists were comparatively more chill & easy to deal w/.
Being the FNG (Fkng New Girl) anywhere can be a bit nerve-wracking, even once you have been in the business for awhile. Just like any other job, you will have both cool coworkers & loose cannons. Just keep your blinders on & earplugs in, so to speak, at least until you get a bit more established. Also, listen to your gut, if you get a bad feeling abt a particular place, even if there does not seem to be anything obviously off, find sm where else. I quit a club after three days b/c of a feeling like that, could not put my finger on it but just felt the worse anxiety there.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
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Originally Posted by
Aniela
It was also the kind of place where a customer would ask a bouncer what a particular girl tipped him each nite, then pay him more to look the other way, regardless of whether the girl was agreeable.
Ugh, this happened to me on more than one occasion. :guilty: I second that if you feel like something is wrong, even if you don't know what it is, just leave the club. No one can keep you there. Don't trust anyone, not the bouncers or the girls until you've at least been there a while. Even then keep your guard up.
Incidentally I had this feeling at my very first club and I left a month before it got raided so I can't tell you what goes on in one. It was my first night dancing and I didn't like the customers OR the girls. I wasn't really there about to try and make friends anyway. A lot of the girls were foreign and probably didn't speak much English, plus many of the customers I approached either wanted me to perform extras or go back to their hotel room with them at the end of the night. The security, bar staff, everyone. Just the whole environment and being at that club was nerve-racking.
I tried it out for a week and decided I couldn't take it anymore. It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth about stripping. There was just something really wrong with that club, just a bad feeling. A month later I heard it got raided and shut down for prostitution and other things. I switched over to another club which was WHOLLY different...not much extras went on as far as I knew and the environment was very laid back. Customers were easy going. I'll interact with girls in clubs where I know extras don't happen, but if I know something goes on in a particular club even if it's on the down low, then I try to avoid the other girls so I don't get caught up in their bullshit somehow.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
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Originally Posted by
Sansonnet
I'll interact with girls in clubs where I know extras don't happen, but if I know something goes on in a particular club even if it's on the down low, then I try to avoid the other girls so I don't get caught up in their bullshit somehow.
It can be so easy to get lumped in w/ sm1 'by association' - I have nvr had a job that proved better that expression abt being judged by the company you keep.
As it has been said here many times, friends are just a fringe benefit in this line of work, if you make them at all. I have also seen it observed here that the girls really worth getting to know are usually the ones that keep to themselves.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
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Originally Posted by
Aniela
It can be so easy to get lumped in w/ sm1 'by association'
Definitely saw that happen. A friend of mine got fired from her club just because she was associated with a girl who the club owner wanted to fire for a while. They would talk to each other when it was slow. Another friend of mine has suspicions that people (club management, staff) think she does extras in the club because she is friends with a girl who does. They both wondered why it happened since they said they only talked to each other when it was slow, but when the club is slow is when people notice the small things.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
I can tell you what I learned from past years. Undercover vice visits the club several times or perhaps once, depending on their strategy. During the big raids in 2012 in my area, the undercover cops were coming in as a heterosexual couple looking to play. They would ask for illegal acts in the club, and more specifically they would ask a stripper if she would like to meet with them for some play outside the club, making it sound like something casual or like a swingers deal, from what we understood. I am not sure in what way vice threw in the "for money" part.
The arrests at two local clubs at that time were primarily solicitation based on saying "yes" or something construed as "yes" to meeting OTC. At one club, some strippers were busted right in the middle of shenanigans, so there was an outright prostitution bust there. A manager there was also arrested for his role in allowing it. A male customer was arrested as a john. However, the majority of the arrests were solicitation for OTC.
The full names, ages and neighborhoods of the women were listed in the media, as well as some limited face shots.
I myself asked about raids, and the people who had been in raids told me what would happen. What they said mirrored what I read in Going Pro. If the undercover vice get a hit in the club, they leave, and then cops in uniform come in, grab the manager and the show stops.
People who are going to receive a citation or be arrested are announced over the DJ's mic or they are rounded up by the bouncers or managers. Everyone else - non-involved strippers, cocktail waitresses, DJs, housemas, bartenders, etc. - have to stay put and will be asked for name and/or ID. I have no idea if vice would go to the trouble of running names against valid licenses in my city. This would potentially open to the door to tax issues, btw, which is a separate kettle of trouble.
In my current club and in my last club, strippers managed to shut down what were apparently vice guys by really knowing the law. The rule of the clubs though was to report the issue pronto. When a guy asks me for something illegal, I say, "Officer, you know we can't do that. What would we tell the judge? How do you explain entrapment these days?"
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
Sometimes the local cops aren't so 'particular' ... they'll simply bust every dancer present in the club, and rely on the fact that a local 'good ol boy' judge and a jury made up of housewives, retirees, and civil servants will almost certainly take the word of a well respected ( but lying ) cop over the word of a 'stripper'.
This sort of 'sweep' involves the cops escorting all dancers present to the local LE 'holding tank' where they will spend the night waiting for a bail hearing in the AM. Prior to the bail hearing, the club's attorney is likely to offer the dancers an opportunity for a plea bargain, where the club will post bail and arrange for a zero jail time 'suspended sentence', in exchange for the dancer entering a de-facto guilty plea. This places individual dancers in the position of either taking the deal, being released and returning to work the next night, or posting their own $500+ cash bail, paying their own attorney's fees, and taking their chances that a local 'good ol boy" judge and a jury made up of jealous housewives, bible thumping retirees, and civil servants on the same payroll as the DA will be willing to take the word of a 'stripper' over the word of a well respected local cop during trial. Being found guilty at trial can translate into a $1000+ fine, plus potential jail time.
The DA is happy with the plea bargain since the city gets to publicize the bust. The club is happy with the plea bargain since it means that dancers can go back to work the next night ( as well as all charges against the club being dropped ... a 'secret' part of the overall plea bargain deal arranged by the club's attorney ). The vast majority of dancers are happy with the plea bargain because it requires no money out of their pocket and no jail time. However, for the dancers, accepting a plea bargain also means accepting a de-facto guilty plea to prostitution / lewd conduct / whatever charge being added to their permanent criminal record.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
I have never seen an undercover cop (at least not that I recognized) or been in a raid, knock on every piece of wood in the forest... But from what I hear, since we all have licenses (and background checks for them in one city where prior prostitution charges will get you denied), undercover mostly issues citations akin to a traffic ticket... you pay a $250 fine for your "offense" and it's a civil matter. Apparently they just kind of walk through the club and hand them out and then go on their way.
Last time I heard of a big raid here with prostitution arrests, it was at one of those places where you pay to jack off to a girl; they had been investigating the owners for a couple years I believe and nabbed them for conducting a ring.
As far as my first night, the girls were reasonably nice though a bit louder and more obnoxious than I expected... I thought they'd be all glamorous and seductive even behind the scenes, boy was I wrong as an 18 year old. The men were skeezy and gross and looking to take the newer girls for a ride. That was just at the icky club I started at though.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
^^^ Selina, your one of the lucky few who dances in a city where breaking local strip club laws is classified as a 'violation' in legal terms. This means no criminal record, no jail time, a maximum fine of a few hundred dollars etc. Unfortunately, for most cities, breaking local strip club laws is classified as a 'misdemeanor' in legal terms. As a 'misdemeanor', the possibility exists for a couple of weeks of jail time, thousands of dollars in fines, a black mark on one's criminal record etc.
Ironically, because most cities impose 'misdemeanor' penalties for breaking their local strip club laws, a really bizarre situation follows. From a legal standpoint, dancers busted for dancing too close to a customer ( breaking local strip club law ) can be saddled with the very same 'sexually related misdemeanor' legal severity as girls busted for giving customers HJ's, BJ's or FS ( breaking state prostitution law ). As such, dancers have little to lose, and potentially much to gain, by offering those 'extras'.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
never had a raid at any club i worked at, sounds scary! and it also sounds like it doesn't matter whether or not you are an extras girl, if your club gets busted you may just be fucked even if you are squeeky clean. i learned pretty early on that often what a cop says, and what the truth is doesn't match up but its your word against theirs!!
and to the other questions, my first night i was very timid and scared ( of course), didn't even go on stage. two of the girls were really nice and the rest of them ignored me and vice versa. i had a lot of " you're too good for this" lines from men who knew it was my first day * eye roll*. and i almost had a " oh my god im a dirty little whore!" break down, but thankfully i got that bullshit in check in real fast
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
^^ Oh, I am aware of how nice it is. When girls bitch about licenses, I feel like pointing out to them that it is a trade-off of sorts. I would much rather have to register myself as a dancer and have a nice pamphlet of "conduct rules" and all their associated fines given to me, rather than work in a city where rules can be arbitrarily made up and changed and criminal charges slapped on you for no reason.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
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it also sounds like it doesn't matter whether or not you are an extras girl, if your club gets busted you may just be fucked even if you are squeeky clean. i learned pretty early on that often what a cop says, and what the truth is doesn't match up but its your word against theirs!!
In some situations, it's even more ironic !!!
Because the probability of an 'extras' dancer being able to save up cash is higher than a 'clean' dancer, when a club bust does occur the 'extras' dancer DOES have the money available to turn down a plea bargain offer from the club's attorney, to pay her own bail, and to retain her own well connected attorney. Then at trial ( or on appeal ), that well connected attorney has a fairly high probability of forcing the prosecutor to produce some actual hard evidence that the dancer committed the crime she was accused of rather than simply relying on 'he said she said'. In most cases, no such hard evidence exists ... or if it does exist ( i.e. a private dance room security camera tape ) it may prove the dancer didn't actually break the law or prove that the dancer was the victim of coercion on the part of the undercover cop 'customer' !!!
As such, because money buys 'justice', the 'extras' dancer has a far higher probability of being found innocent, whereas the 'clean' dancer who is economically forced to accept a plea bargain winds up with a black mark on her permanent record even though she was never 'proven guilty' in court. !!! And this ironic situation gets even worse should a second ( bogus ) bust ever occur. If / when that happens, the 'extras' dancer who was successfully found innocent thanks to her ( expensive ) well connected attorney has a 'clean' permanent record, but the 'clean' dancer who was forced to accept a plea bargain already has a 'prior offense' on her record ( which may lead to bigger fines or jail time for a 'second' offense ) !!!
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work in a city where rules can be arbitrarily made up and changed and criminal charges slapped on you for no reason.
Indeed ... some legal interpretations are downright mind-boggling. For example, under Texas state prostitution law, there is no stated requirement that the person paying money in exchange for 'sexual contact' has to be one of the persons directly involved in that 'sexual contact'. Thus Texas dancers in the following situation ... two dancers on stage at the same time, customers tipping at the rail, and one dancer brushes the other dancer's breast ... can both potentially be busted for prostitution on the spot by an undercover cop !!!
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
Is it true that if one dance gets charged with prostitution while at work, all the other girls working that shift will be charged as well?
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
Do any of these undercovers ever wear wires? I would actually be all for them having to wear a wire/tiny camera to record what was said and seen, so the judge can hear for himself.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
My club got raided in December. Since I stay in close contact with my customers, one sent me a text message the moment the raid started. I wasn't at work yet, but was on my way in to the club when he sent me the message. The club closed for business for 2 hours while the police searched the bar and took away dozen of boxes of evidence (mostly paper work). No dancers were arrested, but several dancers got severed subpoenas to testify in front of a judge.
I worked my regular shift that evening. There was a media presence at the club for several days, and it was quite the trending topic locally for over a week. Overall the raid has hurt business based on year over year business projections. The GM is still freaking out over the slow business since the raid. Even though the current management had nothing to do with the situation leading up to the raid (sex trafficking of minors by customer/pimps), the owners are putting a lot of pressure on him to hit his sales figures anyway.
The overall feeling in the club is a little more tense. Managers are pushing dancers a little harder to increase dance sales while also pushing hard against even minor extras in the club (flashing pink, hard grinding etc.).
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
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Originally Posted by
ToeOfTheCamel
Is it true that if one dance gets charged with prostitution while at work, all the other girls working that shift will be charged as well?
Not around here. There have been plenty of raids here in Detroit lately. I know of some girls who were ticketed and/or arrested, and only a few from each club where. And those who were, were either engaging in prostitution OR breaking the Detroit city strip club ordinance (which means a simple lap dance, or even letting a guy touch you while onstage, can warrant a ticket). Only the girls involved were arrested.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
I was involved in a raid once but not the typical prostitution kind.
I was at Starlets in Queens maybe 2 years ago. It was early, I was dressed and on the floor but there weren't any customers there yet. I was just sitting down on my phone, next thing I know there are a bunch of guys walking into the club with big ass guns drawn and bulletproof vests on. I saw the guns and almost pissed myself. Then I saw that they were US Marshals and I just got irritated. It was like the 30th of the month and I was there to make the last bit of money I needed before rent was due on the 1st. They rounded up all the dancers and had us sit. They were also outside and stopping cars that were driving by that had dancers in them to bring those girls inside. They had the doors open and it was winter time so it was cold as hell and I'm there in a friggin bikini shaking cause I was so cold. I was pissed because I could have worked somewhere else and made money. We sat for maybe 2 hours as they checked all of our identification and questioned us about one of the owners. I don't like people seeing me dressed scantily clad unless they're customers and none of those men were customers but they still got to look so that added insult to my financial injury. Then after the 2 hours, the managers gave us back our house fees and we were allowed to leave. So it was just a big waste of every ones time and the US Marshals should have waited a week to do that so the dancers could have made their money and paid their bills. They didn't get the guy they were there for, they just ruined our collective night.
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
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No dancers were arrested, but several dancers got severed subpoenas to testify in front of a judge.
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We sat for maybe 2 hours as they checked all of our identification and questioned us about one of the owners.
In these cases, the topic of interest to LE most likely is the clubowner, and his association with 'other' business activities !!! You didn't think that the owner could afford a multi-million dollar club on your house fees and private dance percentages, did you ?
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Re: Has your club ever gotten raided? Experiences, please!
The club im at has never been raided but we do have Lot of undercover cops coming through. Usually a heterosexuL couple young with an underage gf. Who tries to buy alcohol repeatedly and then get dancers to buy it for her as well as getting take dances and attempting to be more graby which is lame because most times dancing for females is hard as it is lol they always think it's ok to touch. Theyve actually bought champagne rooms on the off chance that they can trick someone. Our club is topless so I've seen a couple of girls get tickets for not wearing regulation t bars. But management always knows ten minutes or so before undercover cops show up.