Download Festival 2016 organizers have announced the Safety & Security plan. Here what they said:
First: follow @DownloadCops on Twitter and Facebook for advice on keeping you, your friends and your belongings safe.
We want everyone to have a great time, and since having your belongings taken or damaged can ruin your weekend, Live Nation and the police want to remind you to keep your property safe by leaving valuables at home.
Local officers will be on site throughout the festival working alongside the security teams. There will be lots of high-visibility, uniformed patrols on all the campsites and car parks 24 hours a day, and plain-clothed security officers will be out there, too.
Please do everything you can to help the police by keeping your stuff safe with the use of on-site lockers, and by not leaving anything on display in your car. Don’t bring large sums of cash and don’t leave stuff in your tent.
The police are giving lots of crime prevention advice on Facebook – just go to Leicestershire Police and Download Festival – and you can follow them @DownloadCops on Twitter.
FURTHER CRIME PREVENTION ADVICE:
Use the on-site lockers for your personal belongings. Don’t leave anything in your tent when you are not in it. You can either book a locker in advance through your ticket provider or buy one when you arrive for £7 a day or £16.00 for the weekend.
If you can’t take your valuables with you when you leave your tent, leave them at home.
Put money, tickets, credit cards and mobile phones in a zipped pocket or use a money belt or in the bottom of your sleeping bag when you go to sleep.
Do not bring large sums of cash. Only bring what you need and keep it on you at all times. Keep your cash and cards in two places – for example, one in your wallet and the other in a zipped pocket.
Register your property for FREE at http://www.immobilise.com, or postcode or mark the property so that it is identifiable.
If you arrive by car, don’t leave anything on display in your vehicle including sat navs, car stereos, CDs or mobile phones. Don’t put items in your glove box or the boot – this is the first place a thief will look. Take everything with you or leave it at home.
Don’t drink so much that you make yourself vulnerable to being a victim of crime. Stick with your mates and look after each other.
Find your unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of your phone. If your phone is lost or stolen you can contact your service provider to have the phone immobilised. Finding the IMEI number is different for every time – use a search engine to find out where to find it for your phone.
WHAT WILL THE POLICE BE DOING?
Police will patrol day and night across the site – both uniformed officers and plain-clothed officers.
They will work with organisers in event control to ensure the event runs smoothly.
Security staff will also be patrolling both the camp sites and the car parks. Each campsite will have a ‘hub’ with a ‘hub’ manager where people can go to report problems.
A police station will be set up on the site by the main entrance to the village. The station will be used as a reporting centre if anyone needs to report a crime.
Community volunteers and staff from North West Leicestershire District Council will also be working on the site, giving out crime prevention leaflets and postcoding property if you have forgotten to do it before you arrive.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE HAD SOMETHING STOLEN, OR IF YOU LOSE SOMETHING:
Lost Property is by the main search lanes in the village on the right-hand side as you walk in. Hundreds of items are handed in every year. It is worth checking there if anything goes missing.
The police station is located next to lost property if you need to report a crime. You can ask any of the officers you see patrolling the site any questions – they are really friendly, honest!
PHONE BUNGEES
Leicestershire Police will be helping us hand out thousands of collectable phone ‘bungees’ to festival goers this year to prevent mobile phone theft.
Phone bungees consist of a silicone loop which grips the phone is joined to a coiled cord. The cord attaches to a belt and acts like a ‘bungee’, saving your phone from hitting the floor if you drop it, or preventing it from being removed from your pocket. The bungees are black with a picture of the Download Dog on one side and police’s Twitter handle @DownloadCops on the other – handy and fashionable. Does it get any better?
Police officers, cadets and volunteers will be giving the bungees out across the five days to help keep your phones safe.