Sheriff says law enforcement prepared for possible rave

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief. 

LUDINGTON — Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole said he and other local law enforcement officials are taking very seriously a report that the next big area rave party may be occurring in Mason County this weekend.

Cole said his department was contacted by the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office Thursday with information about the next rave. Last weekend over 2,000 people attended a rave party in southern Mecosta County, which resulted in three arrests, several injuries and an alleged rape of a woman.

“These types of parties are not just kids getting together having a bon fire,” Cole said. “We understand that young people have parties. But, these are incidents that breed criminal activity to a whole other realm including drug activity, and in the case of last week’s rave, an alleged rape of a female. We are just not going to tolerate that here.”

Cole said a meeting was held Thursday with the sheriff’s office administrative staff, Ludington Police Department’s administrative staff, Michigan State Police, the U.S. Forest Service and the Mason County Proseuctor’s Office. He said off-duty officers are being put on call over the weekend. If a major party is held in a rural area of the county, all the law enforcement agencies will be responding.

“Our biggest ally in this is the community,” Cole said. “The moms and dads, knowing what their kids are doing, having vigilant eyes and ears.”

Cole said if anyone would like to provide information, they should contact Mason-Oceana 911 or Silent Observer, 72-CRIME.