Similar to what occurred at Mavado's birthday bash recently, Jamaica Police halted three reggae shows. The shows included Riding West, Rasta Bash and Reggae Fever. Artists, patrons and all vehicles were searched at three venues. This has come after a senior police official was murdered.
According to the Jamaica Star at around 4:15a police simultaneously swooped on the three venues, and shut down the shows immediately. The venues were all cordoned off, and the searches began in earnest. The police were outfitted in denim clothes and were armed with M-16 assault rifles.
At Riding West, the police showed up shortly after Jah Cure's performance signaling the end of the show. The police proceeded to search all patrons and even artists leaving the venue.
Some feel that the police presence is justified while others disagree. According to promoter Worrell King, "We are living in dangerous times with all the high-profile crimes so it is not difficult to understand the reasoning behind what the police are doing." Most disagreed due to the inconvenience of being searched and also being short changed when scheduled acts did not appear.
At Rasta Bash one patron declared, "Man, spliff fly like plane when the blue clothes dem touch the place. We understand wha dem a do because the crime thing get out a hand so me no have a problem with what dem do."
