Did sheriff plan rave raid?

OREM — Utah County Sheriff James Tracy spent the afternoon of Aug. 20 formulating a raid on a dance party in Spanish Fork Canyon instead of simply warning the promoters of the event that they were out of compliance with county code, according to internal memos and initial police contact reports.

Attorneys for the promoters argue the documents — internal memos, affidavits and initial police contact reports — show Tracy planned to shut down the gathering after only a few hours, even though the county allows more than 250 people to gather without a permit, if they meet for less than 12 hours.

Because of the raid, the sheriff and other county police agencies are now embroiled in litigation in federal court, brought by the concert promoters who say their First Amendment rights of gathering and free speech were violated.

The documents — from such law-enforcement agencies as the Utah Department of Corrections and Provo police department — indicate that Tracy not only knew about the rave party, but alerted some enforcement agencies days before.

Tracy, according to the papers, asked officers from the various agencies to be prepared to help raid and disband the DJ-music party. Then, hours before the evening event, he called again and they gathered.

The police agencies included members of the Utah County Sheriff's Office, the Utah Department of Corrections Special Operations Unit, Provo police, Provo-Orem SWAT team, and the Department of Public Safety SWAT team.

"At the sheriff's office, an operation plan was developed, assignments made and a briefing conducted for all officers involved with the raid. The mission was to disperse the gathering of people because they had not acquired the proper permit for a gathering of more than 250 people," says an internal memo from the corrections department from a lieutenant to the division director.

At about 11:30 p.m. — two hours after the event started — officials surrounded the event. They said they shut down the party because the promoters, Uprok Records, did not obtain the necessary permit required by Utah County code for events involving more than 250 people for more than 12 hours.

But the promoters say the event was scheduled for less than 12 hours — and therefore was not a violation of county code and should not have been raided.

"You don't get 90 militarized officers all together in a matter of an hour," said Brian Barnard, an attorney representing the party promoters and land owners.

The newspaper obtained the documents from the promoter's legal team.