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Thread: Raids!

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    Default Raids!

    Has anyone been working when a club was busted or raided? What was the experience like? Were the cops cool about it or a-holes? If the area requires a dancing permit, did they check for them? How did the people in the club react? Do the customers just leave or do they get busted? What about drugs? Do the cops search for drugs? Did anyone get arrested? What did they charge them with?

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    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raids!

    In nearly 7 years, I've only worked in one club that got raided while I worked there. They came during a busy night, around 11pm (just when the place had gotten packed and people were starting to party). I was on stage when I saw two uniformed cops rushing through the club, then several more, running to block all the doors and exits. Everyone was too stunned to do anything until the cops had already closed off the exits. It was clearly a carefully orchestrated rush attack. They brought in dogs, kept everyone (including customers) locked in the club for over an hour. They blocked ALL doors - bathrooms, dressing room, offices, everything - to keep us all in the main room. They even made us shut down the stages. No one dared talk. They had the dogs sniff all the lockers and found pot in two of them, and they arrested those two girls. They lined all the girls up and made us get our ID and show them, one by one, saying they were checking for illegals and minors. I had only been dancing about a year at that time, so I had no idea what to expect. I watched as the cops questioned everyone and the managers yupped and danced around like anxious servants. I was so nervous I could hardly work the combination on my locker to get my ID. While one guy was scrutinizing my ID and asking me questions like how much I'd had to drink, how long I'd been dancing and how long I'd worked at that club, I saw one of the girls being cuffed on the other side of the room. She was upset and the cop cuffing her, some young schmuck with too much to prove, made some crappy remark that if she'd been a good girl she wouldn't be going to jail. After each girl was questioned and ID'ed, they corralled us into one corner. I was in sort of a daze, trying to figure out why they were doing this. They were obviously going to alot of trouble to scare people and generate lots of bad publicity and gossip. During ID checks, they found two girls had old warrants (one traffic ticket and one hot check) and arrested them. Finally, they cleared out and the managers gave everyone a free drink, but the damage was done. Of course, after all that, half of the guys scrambled for the door to leave, and the other half were so spooked they hardly even drank the rest of the night. They kept asking what was going on and if we were sure the cops were gone - they didn't want to get dances for fear of getting arrested. Some of the guys tipped extra or paid for dances they wouldn't get just because they felt bad for the girls, but most were just stunned. It was a huge mood/business killer, and it also resulted in a big downfall in business for months later. Most people don't want to take the chance of being seen or caught in a club with a bad rep. I later heard all sorts of rumors about why the cops had raided us like that - mainly centered around speculation that someone had failed to make some necessary 'payments' and that was their way of teaching a lesson. I figured it was more like someone was up for re-election and wanted to put on a good show because the other big club in town was also raided within 2 weeks of ours.

    I recently read about a raid in New Orleans (my hometown) where two of my friends got arrested. The newspaper article said that the vice guys had seen the dancers touching customers AND VICE VERSA during table dances. They arrested every dancer in the club and the manager on duty that night. All the dancers' names were published in the article. None of the customers were charged or named, of course. The owner was unnamed, and was 'unable to be reached for comment'. The dancers were all charged with lewd dancing and the manager was charged with allowing lewd dancing. Everyone was released on bail. I recognized two of the dancers' names in the article and emailed one to see how she was, and she sent a reply saying the cops had been real assholes, rushing around screaming at everyone like maniacs. She said the owner had told everyone he would 'help them with their legal issues'. We'll see how that goes. That is the third raid in New Orleans recently. Obviously, someone is putting on a show for the voters.

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    There is a cliche that implies that cops like to date strippers. Is this true? And how does that effect the police interaction with dancers? Has a cop ever had to bust his girlfriend in a raid, or would he cut her slack?

    -paul

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    Default Re: Raids!

    I can't say I have ever been in a club that has been raided, but there were a few I worked where a handful of cops would "hang-out" while they were on duty. They usually let us be, while the watched for free, but they wold occasionally fine or arrest dancers or customers for something blatant, and they would break up occasional fights.

    But I hear that's a little on the abnormal side.

    In Idaho, there are a lot of them that come in undercover and plainclothes, and they will arrest and cite girls for showing the slightest bit of nipple (you are supposed to be wearing a bikini or pasties).

    Regarding cops with stripper girlfriends, I have never personally seen it. I have known a lot of strippers who had friends who were cops, myself included, but none that were dating them.

    However, check out the movie "Blaze", which was based on a true story. The chick, whose life it was based on, was dating a cop, and he actually did have to arrest her at one point, from what I understand. That may be where that old cliche comes from.

    McCain

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    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raids!

    I don't know about cops liking to date strippers. Maybe. I do know that cops like to hang out in strip clubs. I've worked in many, and there always seem to be the obligatory uniformed peeper pair who regularly hang out near the door of the club. The excuse is that they are making their presence known in attempts to keep the rule-breaking down, but really they're just getting a free show. Often, when there's a girl on stage that they really like, they will move closer to get a better view. Heh, they think they're really getting something over on us, and we just let them continue thinking

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    Just going through the older threads and I found this one.

    I have been in one club that was raided at the time I was there. The cops went through every part of the club, but they only questioned the female staff, waiteresses, cashiers and dancers. Aside from the managers, the male staff was left alone. When Honolulu Police come in, they bring the Liquor Commission Inspectors, too. Club management bails any staff member out of jail who gets arrested in a raid. The girls have to reimburse the boss, though and contribute to the legal costs of their defense. So, they have to pay the club's attorney for representing them in court.

    Last week, we had a bachelor party in our club that some regular patrol officers were throwing for their friend. We knew they were cops when they booked the party.

    From the start, they were encouraging several staff members to do things which we and they knew to be illegal: offering the staff alcohol on-the-job; one guy asked one of our girls for a blowjob and, when she refused, he asked if she knew another girl he could get one from; one guy, who was not a cop, was caught taking films of the girls on his cellphone and his cop friends tried to get us to return the phone, but we refused until all the movies and still pictures had been irretrievably deleted; after all that, they were so mad at us for kicking them out for doing all this, they tried to get the names of some of the staff so they could arrest them! They had no legal grounds to arrest anyone that night and they knew it, so they just bitched for a little while and left. If they hadnt been drinking hard alcohol all night, we would have thought the whole thing was a set-up from the start.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    I recently read about a raid in New Orleans (my hometown) where two of my friends got arrested. *The newspaper article said that the vice guys had seen the dancers touching customers AND VICE VERSA during table dances. *They arrested every dancer in the club and the manager on duty that night. *All the dancers' names were published in the article. *None of the customers were charged or named, of course. *The owner was unnamed, and was 'unable to be reached for comment'. *The dancers were all charged with lewd dancing and the manager was charged with allowing lewd dancing. *Everyone was released on bail. *I recognized two of the dancers' names in the article and emailed one to see how she was, and she sent a reply saying the cops had been real assholes, rushing around screaming at everyone like maniacs. *She said the owner had told everyone he would 'help them with their legal issues'. *We'll see how that goes. *That is the third raid in New Orleans recently. *Obviously, someone is putting on a show for the voters.
    Unfortunately, I have to tell you that I have been involved in several different club busts in different cities. In every case but one, the bust went down pretty much as described in the New Orleans bust post. I wrote an article about my experiences around the 2000 election, which can still be seen at



    One of the major things that have changed in the 4 years since I wrote the article is that courts have raised the amount of bail set to $500 typically instead of $250 (with the idea being to make the bail high enough so that most dancers won't have enough cash with them to make bail and thus will wind up spending the night in the slammer).

    Perhaps more importantly, another thing which has changed is that most local anti-dance club ordinances now consider breaking the ordinance to be a misdemeanor (i.e. a real crime) rather than a violation ( i.e. a traffic ticket). The idea of course is that if a girl is charged with lewd conduct or breaking an anti-dance club ordinance, if this is considered to be a misdemeanor charge it now means that the girl will wind up with a black mark on her permanent criminal record if she cops a plea as well as if she pleads guilty.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    I have been in several club raids, but its more common in some locales than others. In my city, the boys in blue have an unstated, but semi regular schedule for coming in and handing out a few tickets for lewd/lascivious conduct to a handful of girls. This is because here technically we are no contact. Anyone who's ever been to the mtown will tell you we have contact friction dances. I'm used to those kind of vice cops.

    I have, though, been working out of town in a different city, and twice clubs that I was working or had just finished working were raided while I was still in town. At one club it was just like bridgette described with everyone being detained in one room while the drug dogs do the locker/bathroom/bar/manager's office search. They were seriously angry with this club because it took like two or three hours to go through all dancers and customers and when all was said and done, they were making arrests left and right for the most trivial things. Saying stuff like "oh you gstring divas can't shut up huh ." And they were actually taking girls to jail for talking about the way they were treating them or their stuff. I mean they were throwing clothes, shoes, dancebags belonging to anyone they didn't feel was moving fast enough, totally unnecessary stuff and just incredible rudeness. This was like totally personal, couldn't have been anything else. At the other club the raid was more like the ones at home. A handful of them came in, sat around, and then handed out five /six tickets, said hi to management, drank a some free water, tell management maybe only three will stick and thats the end. All business and minimal drama. Whenever, they get all gangbusters, it's either personal against the club or owner, political season, or federal in my club experiences.


    Now, when I think of traveling I always read local news articles so I can get a feel for the political climate of the area or anything else newsworthy going on I might not know just because I'm not from the area. And, even though its full of lots of bull, stripclublist, is helpful for finding out local gossip about club closings/rumors/local business, etc. Its still just kind of scary being away from home in a situation where you are unfamiliar with local laws/ordinances and don't know whom to call off hand. Just be careful where ever you work, and pay attention to the turns your club takes or little changes you begin to notice. It saved my ass once just noticing that all the old schoolgirls who come and go as they please and have for years, just suddenly stopped coming around at all. I knew they weren't missing steady money for no reason. Just be alert at work.
    "Come what may although I often say realities come from dreams, but approach all lies with open eyes because NOthing in this world is EVER ALL it seems."

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    Veteran Member livenudegirlsunite's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raids!

    I think it would be great to have a class action lawsuit against all police departments in the country for sexual harrassment, illegal persecution and extortion.
    Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which they live is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. - M Rivero

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    Default Re: Raids!

    I would have to disagree about a girl being left permanent marks on her record for being charged with a misdemeanor sex related offense. If you have a reasonably good lawyer, and no criminal past it is likey you will be able to have your record expunged after paying a fine and spending a certain amount of time on probation if you are found guilty. Of course I'm sure it depends on where you live, the 'crime' you are charged with, and personal vendettas by the cops against the club. Being cooperperative and not carrying drugs would probably help. I would also hire my own lawyer rather than using one provided by the club to avoid a conflict of interest, especially if you have to pay for it either way.

    Cops are people. People like to get laid. As do lawyers, doctors, judges, secretaries, students, strippers, and 99% the rest of the world. I don't see why it would be anymore unlikely for a cop to date a stripper than anyone else (aside from the Pope; then again you never know )

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    Default Re: Raids!

    I was in a bust in the East Bay Area of Ca at the all nude Kit Kat club in the mid 90's. It was pretty lame... For some reason our club owners thought it was okay to do San Francisco type lap dances in a back room with periodic toy shows. They said it was okay, but I had a bad feeling about it I hadn't heard a thing about our zoning changing. I did the lapdanced but didnt grind or get to close just in case.

    So the police had been watching us for six month's or so. We were in pretty friendly with the local cops, they stopped by occasionally. But their was another division that we saw often parked across the street watching us. Apparently they were sending undercover police into the club the whole time too. (Getting paid for lapdances. ;p)

    So, I came driving into work for the night shift one evening and the place was obviously being busted. My first instinct was to drive by, but I pulled into the parking lot anyways. I hadn't done anything wrong and I was curious. They pulled me out of my car politely and said to go inside and they would park my car. I was escorted in.

    They kept us in there for about 2 hours and one by one, customers and all, everyone was questioned alone in a serious but friendly way. A few were arrested, but for outstanding warrents from parking tickets or drugs found on them or in their locker. Nobody was arrested in link with the lapdancing/toy show room. Our club owners had extremely good lawyers.

    It came down in two parts. First, there was another type of legal attack going on at the same time. They were trying to push through a law that made it manditory for strip club owners to pay all of their dancers wages on tips and be counted as employees, not private contractors. We who agreed to help had to give written dispositions that we did not want to be paid a salary or receive benifits. We stated that we wanted to be private contractors. That knocked out their first attack.

    Then the raid that they did, received a negative public outcry for the tax dollars spent on surveilence that yeilded no real arrests. Local newspapers had a feild day clowning them. A third spin-off scandel even erupted from that because some of the girls ended up with their real names and pictures being printed in the local newspaper as well.

    The club had to shut down the special show room in the end anyhow. It was odd because after that they said we had to go down to the local police station and "register" as a dancer in the area. Not all of us did, I don't think it was an actual requirement, could have possibly been illegal to ask us to do. I dunno. (I was just hoping for a cool laminated ID card that said I was officially a stripper but no such luck from the cheap bastards)

    Welp, that's my story. The moral, don't take drugs to work; not even in your car, pay those parking/speeding tickets and don't ever just take your club owner/boss's word for anything find out for yourself if something seems out of place about what they are asking you to do.

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    Veteran Member Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raids!

    Cops are around my favorite club all the time. Mostly they're checking up on the place and occassionally arresting an unruly customer. One of the dancers has a thing for cops. management doesn't seem to mind much as it keeps out the undesireable customers. No one's ever felt the need to bust them for politcal points.

    I do see alot of customers who seem to think they're being busted whenever they're around. A coupel weeks ago, a hostess saw a couple custoemr who were completely drunk walk out announcing their intentions to drive home, so she called the cops. The officer was standing in the lobby taking a statment from the hostess and every customer who came through seemed scared. One guy asked permission to walk to the nearby gas station and buy beer. "no law against walking," the cop said.

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    God/dess Bridgette's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raids!

    The hostess called the cops cuz customers were going to drive home drunk??? That's pretty stoopid, bad for business. She could've just called them a cab and had the doorman keep them til the cab arrived - this is normal procedure if they're gonna do anything. What a dumbass.

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    'Round here, the bartender is liable for personal injury or property damage caused by a customer they 'over served'... and can get nailed even if the idiot showed up preloaded.

    It rarely happens, but there have been one or two spectacular judgements against companies and private individuals that A) make you shake your head and B) totally killed the office Christmas party for many companies.

    So, calling the cops because a hammered customer is about to get in his car is perfectly reasonable (around here) for a bartender covering their ass.

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    Veteran Member Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raids!

    It's a BYOB club and they had pissed her off earlier by trying to sneak in underage drinkers.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    Ok Clark, I see she was pissed off, but still could've handled it better. Calling the cops in to get revenge on asshole customers makes the OTHER customers uncomfortable, and is bad for business. She was still acting stoopid.

    Bartenders don't have to call the cops to cover their asses re: drunk customers. As I said, it's common procedure where ever I've been to get them a cab. Sheesh, if cops were called every time customers got too drunk in bars, the cops would be spending waaaaaay too much time dealing with that stupidity when they should be out dealing with bigger problems

    Quote Originally Posted by pheno View Post
    When you lead a nontraditional life don't try to measure it with traditional milestones.

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    Default Re: Raids!

    Well, I was in a club last week (as a custy, of course) when cops went in. Clients were quickly escorted out of the place. They arrested a "porn" star/model and others, including the club's owner, for indecent exposure and obscenity. Needless to say , I got nervous



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    Default Re: Raids!

    Quote Originally Posted by PoisonKandi
    Cops are people. People like to get laid. As do lawyers, doctors, judges, secretaries, students, strippers, and 99% the rest of the world. )
    Amen to that! That sounds like a smart ass bumper sticker!

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    Default Re: Raids!

    Well, I was in a club last week (as a custy, of course) when cops went in. Clients were quickly escorted out of the place. They arrested a "porn" star/model and others, including the club's owner, for indecent exposure and obscenity. Needless to say , I got nervous
    Yup, clubs that book features (particularly XXX features) and do heavy local advertising are vastly increasing the probability of a bust these days. Local politicians do NOT like full page newspaper ads reminding local voters that there is a strip club in their midst - particularly a strip club which has imported a XXX pro who (in many voters' opinion) is likely to offer local guys a 'taste'.


    I would have to disagree about a girl being left permanent marks on her record for being charged with a misdemeanor sex related offense. If you have a reasonably good lawyer, and no criminal past it is likey you will be able to have your record expunged after paying a fine and spending a certain amount of time on probation if you are found guilty. Of course I'm sure it depends on where you live, the 'crime' you are charged with, and personal vendettas by the cops against the club.
    Managing to get your record expunged is really only a sure thing if you plead innocent and you are eventually found innocent. Getting your record expunged is significantly more difficult (and more expensive) if you cop a plea or if you are found guilty. About the only way for this to happen is that you must have a totally squeaky clean record other than the one club bust charge, you must do your probation without incident, you must wait another year or whatever after that, and then you must pay an attorney to bring a new case for expungement before the court. As you pointed out, specific laws and rules regarding expungement vary widely from state to state as well.

    And, increasingly, getting your record expunged of a 'sex crime' is damn near impossible - mostly due to the fact that entries made into multi-state 'sex offender' databases cannot be erased by the order of a judge from a single state. Another example of the law of unintended consequences, in this case laws meant for perverts and child molesters can wind up being applied to dancers bogusly busted on prostitution charges.
    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 07-23-2005 at 07:02 AM.

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