Aegis Initiative:Best Practices

Some words on the best practices for talking to Event Security, Authorities, and Lawyers: Please remember that Aegis Initiative is not capable of enforcing rules at conventions, sanctioned to perform law enforcement, nor can provide legal advice or representation. We strongly prefer that you contact convention security, venue security, or law enforcement and have some record of this interaction BEFORE contacting us. You are not in any way obligated to do this. If you distrust/dislike these groups you are welcome to contact us directly. Not every piece of information we have collected requires a trip to the local police precinct to verify it. However, when reporting on more extreme and heinous incidents, outside verification of any kind is extremely useful.

Please note: The following is intended as a guideline of “known best practices” for contacting and interacting with security staff, law enforcement, and the legal system. What is given here is advice based upon experience and NOT GUARANTEED to result in a positive outcome. Due to the serious ramifications that are possible outcomes resulting from negative interactions with Law Enforcement (ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE UNITED STATES) we strongly suggest only deliberately interacting with Law Enforcement when you are FULLY prepared to do so, can record your interactions and to NEVER do so WHILE INTOXICATED. ONCE AGAIN: As stated in our “rules” section, the Initiative is NOT intended as a replacement for any entity that actually enforces rules or laws. We CANNOT, under any circumstances, do anything beyond be a source of information and education. That being said, we expect you to at least make an attempt at making an appropriate enforcement entity aware of a problem BEFORE coming to us. We understands that this is not always possible, and that traumatic events usually make folks very reluctant to reveal that something has happened to them, especially if it is felt to be shameful or embarrassing.

Additionally, the possibility exists for false accusation and malicious reporting. This is done by those who either have a grudge and want to use the Initiative as a weapon in that fight, or they find our existence offensive and wish to damage us and/or their target’s credibility.Therefore, if you have already contacted law enforcement, especially about past incidents, then providing documentation of that adds legitimacy and increases the urgency to address your request for our help. To that end, the Initiative has broken this list down into two distinct sections to address what to do.

Something happened to you, within 0-96 hours of it happening, you should do AT LEAST one of the following

Contact convention security

Most conventions have a formal “incident report” of some kind that you will need to fill out. This then becomes a permanent but often not public record. In our experience the best way to contact Con Security is to find someone in a staff uniform who is otherwise unoccupied, give them a brief comment about what's going on, then ask to be allowed to file a report, then always ask for a copy of this report when done.

Contact Venue Security

Remember that usually convention staff are volunteers, and therefore are not considered professional security staff. Venue security are paid professionals whose job is to "Observe and Report". Depending on what happened, venue security MAY BE LEGALLY REQUIRED to report what happened to Law Enforcement. In our experience the best way to contact Venue Security is to find someone in what looks like a police uniform (who has no armament) or says "security" somewhere on their person who is otherwise unoccupied. You should (again) also request a copy of any incident report written up. Private security isn’t necessarily obligated to provide incident reports to private citizens, but it never hurts to ask.

CALL THE POLICE

The number is, of course, 911 in America. Other countries may have different emergency numbers, and only sometimes 911 will work (for a complete list, we refer you to the state department). Research this before attending ANY convention outside your home country. For legal reasons, we are compelled to remind you to only use 911 or whatever the local number is for emergency services when an ACTUAL emergency is happening. In all other instances, use the non-emergency line. Using a search engine, try the general location of where you are and the phrase "Non-emergency police number". In most cases, especially in large conventions held at large venues that have over 10,000 attendees, the best way to get emergency services to you is to contact VENUE security first, so that they can guide Law enforcement/Emergency services to you or the correct specific location. In all probability, any emergency responders are not going to know where the "INSERT CON SPECIFIC ROOM NAME HERE" is. They probably don’t even know the actual name of the function hall, and American Law Enforcement has a distinct tendency to charge into situations and make assumptions on the way, which can further hamper attempts at actually getting anything reasonable done. Getting convention security to call for you may be more advantageous here, as they can better translate from con-speak to police-speak. Point being: Bad or vague information CAN MAKE IT DIFFICULT for help to reach you quickly, or AT ALL.

Additionally, someone who has just experienced a severe traumatic incident will usually not be capable of communicating coherently to anyone (adrenaline is a hell of a drug). When speaking to a 911 operator, both the reporter and the 911 operator can become easily frustrated at the other’s seeming lack of emotion, overabundance of emotion, and or lack of clarity. As a result, when reporting an incident late at night or when intoxicated, Law Enforcement may largely dismiss the complaint and do nothing. This is why we recommend not being intoxicated when making a report. Video or photos of an incident greatly improve your chances of Law Enforcement acting on a report.

Generally incident records filed with Law Enforcement are PUBLIC, and you are always (at least in the United States) allowed to ask for all records pertaining to an incident where you are the victim or complainant, but it is always a good idea to wait until at LEAST the Tuesday after a convention to do this to allow for transcription.

Optional: Seek medical attention

If you are harmed physically, seek out medical help as soon as possible. Whether you have a simple cut as a result of something trivial or something rising to the level of assault, make sure you get treatment ASAP. Larger conventions have professionally trained medics walking around (and first aid stations) and generally can deal with lightweight issues from diabetic shock to alcohol poisoning without having you run to the hospital. If you involuntarily tranquilized (slang: roofied), they will protect you until it wears off at least or direct you somewhere correctly.

Something happened to you, within 96 hours or more after the incident, you should AT LEAST do ONE of the following:

Contact Legal Counsel

The best friend you can have in getting shit done in this regard. A lawyer scares the absolute shit out of conventions, lazy security departments, lazy cops and most importantly the perpetrator. They went to school for longer than most professions and usually know the law better than all other parties involved. That being said, lawyers can be quite expensive, and consultations are not always free. In our experience an actual good lawyer generally does not advertise their services on a billboard overlooking the highway, and can cost upwards of several thousand dollars to retain. There are two methods you can use for finding a lawyer: The traditional method is to contact your local Bar Association, describe your problem, and they will usually recommend a lawyer that you can then speak to. There is no guarantee that said lawyer will take the case for free, take the case at all, or even talk to you in the first place. However, finding the right lawyer is important, as a personal injury lawyer (the sort that advertises on billboards) is not going to do much good when you need something to go on offense.

The other method is LegalZoom. This service is $100+ a year for a subscription and is mostly meant for legal documentation but it does have a feature that allows one to speak to a lawyer for 30 minutes at no additional charge and get some basic advice on what to do next. This basic advice may not help you any more or less than contacting the local Bar Association would have. There isn’t much of a difference between these two options, use whichever one you believe is the most effective for you.

Depending on the specifics of your incident, all you may need a lawyer for is assistance in speaking to the police about the incident and convincing them to press charges. ANYTHING discussed with a lawyer is protected by Attorney-Client privilege, and cannot be revealed by the lawyer unless it would prevent imminent harm. If you tell an attorney about something that would cause imminent harm to yourself or others they are LEGALLY REQUIRED to report it to Law Enforcement IMMEDIATELY. It is also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that if you either intend to take someone to court, or have already done so that you NEVER DISCUSS THE MATTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA (your lawyer will drill this into your head until the heat death of the universe). Discussing your case on Social Media can do a number of things that hurt you; including giving the suspect time to hide from Law Enforcement, giving the suspect time to destroy evidence, doing something known as “poisoning the jury pool”, or even put you in a situation where you incriminate yourself. The minute shit is bad enough that you’re in a lawyer’s office, it’s time to shut up.

Make sure to provide as much documentation as possible to the Lawyer. ALL Screenshots (not just the ones you like or you feel make you look good), audio, video, photos, incident reports from security and Law Enforcement, whatever you have. The more information you have, the more likely the lawyer is to make a clear decision about your case. NEVER lie to your Lawyer, as it only hurts their ability to protect you and can damage your case. Attorney-Client privilege prevents the lawyer from going to anyone about your problems unless you let them.

Finally, we really, really appreciate when you talk to a lawyer before coming to us because it 1) means that a competent professional has looked over the details of the incident and either considered your case worth fighting for or that it isn’t, 2) Means that should the incident actually end up in a court of law, all records not sealed or expunged by the judge will be public record. This can especially be true for civil cases, as they can reveal the truth on any related matters. For Example, see how the “Xenu Story” was revealed to the public or what transpired during the Vic Mignona lawsuits. This can even be a valid tactic to reveal the truth of an accusation thought to be dubious. Say someone is constantly sharing 5 year-old screenshots that are barely legible and claiming that their contents reveal a something about you. During the “discovery” phase of a lawsuit, research and the work of private investigators can not only discover through a preponderance of evidence (whether or not this person is guilty of slander/libel) but also hint strongly as to your own guilt or innocence. This is great for us but may not be great for the accused if the screenshots are genuine.

Put simply, GET A LAWYER

FBI.gov

If you live across state lines from the convention where something happened, or someone is harassing/threatening you from across state lines, or you simply do not know, the tip form on the [FBI.gov] website is a great way to get Law Enforcement involved. We love this contact form because it allows you to attach many different photos and files to your complaint and give a much more detailed description of what happened than you could with just plain text. We DO NOT recommend attaching any public links to cloud storage services, because an FBI agent is not expected to be tech-savvy as part of their normal job description, like it or not. If sharing permissions are improperly set then they won’t see what you’re sharing. They may also be unable to access the service, as the internet they are using may lock them out of said service. Contacting the FBI like this is SLOW. It can take a month or even more for an FBI field agent to contact you and follow-up. One exception to this is any reports with documentation about Pedophilia or child abuse. They fast track that shit because of how bad the PR is if they didn’t. DO NOT SUBMIT ANYTHING THAT IS FALSE OR CAN BE CONSIDERED PERJURY. THEY WILL KNOW, THEY REMEMBER and it may come back to incriminate yourself.

If the FBI considers something “beneath them” or simply not something they would normally handle, they may forward the information to the proper State/County/Municipal law enforcement entity. If you feel that you cannot wait, contact your local FBI field office and arrange to speak to a field agent. Refer to our above section on lawyers to keep yourself out of trouble.

State police tipline

Some State Police agencies in America will have a similar capability to tip them off through their website. Though this varies wildly state-to-state. In the future, we may provide a list of State Police agencies within the US that have this capability. We generally do not recommend that you speak to the State police over the phone unless they contact you as follow-up, because you may not be able to give them all the information necessary to properly stress that your problem is worth their time.

Local police tipline

This is the least-recommended way to contact the police after-the-fact. Local law enforcement in general is mostly concerned with emergency response and investigation of crimes that have happened very recently. Generally local police agencies are unreliable at best outside of a very specific time window. The exception being when they are given proper motivation by higher-tier law enforcement agencies, Public outcry or lawyers. However if you believe such a thing is necessary, we advise you to bring as much evidence of the incident as you can and do so in person. Once again, preferably after speaking to a lawyer.

Considerations

Aegis Initiative cannot ensure that any of the advice given here will work, only that it seems to be among the best options to take. As such, we would like to once again remind anyone that has read this far that just telling us what happened and giving us whatever supporting information you have is always a valid option. As things like what happened to you never happen to just one person. (During emergencies) In general, we recommend dealing with Law Enforcement in the same way you would deal with encountering a large, violent animal in the wild: Do not provoke them, never make sudden movements that startle or agitate them, and never, ever hesitate when action is required. Also do not lie to them. We highly recommend NEVER citing law to cops, especially not after they have handled a violent or tense incident. It won’t really help, seriously, it WILL NOT help: Police officers, with very rare exceptions, are not there to understand the law. That is the job of the courts. Police officers just arrange the meeting with the courts.

The sooner you report an incident, the easier it is to get shit done, and the more likely it is for something to BE done. If you believe that you will receive negative or dangerous interaction from Law Enforcement and are in a position where you are able to avoid direct contact with them, GET A LAWYER FIRST.

Hostility towards law enforcement is not going to help things, though Aegis Initiative completely understands why one would dislike/distrust Authority Figures such as police. If you believe that in the moment you cannot speak to a cop directly, use a friend or trusted companion as a proxy. Be aware Police may need to follow up with you DIRECTLY. Be as honest and clear as you can be when speaking to these people. Being vague or dishonest can lead to you incriminating yourself, and or rendering it impossible to actually address an incident. If you are in a position where you are forced to speak to law enforcement inside your current residence (hotel room or otherwise), be aware of “plain sight doctrine” which dictates that (at least in the United States) Law Enforcement agents are allowed to engage with and use as probable cause ANYTHING THEY CAN SEE WITHIN PLAIN SIGHT AS PART OF THEIR DUTIES. Anything includes anything not behind a locked door or closed container. Therefore make sure any weapons, drugs, paraphernalia, alcohol (if anyone in the room is not of legal age) or general contraband you may be in possession of is stowed away or hidden. Be aware that merely “smelling like weed” does not count, due to recent US Supreme Court precedent. Once Again: It is not recommended that you ever speak to someone with the ability to arrest you while intoxicated.

If a sexual assault occurred, it is a really good idea to formally declare any missing items as stolen (especially within the United States) as due to U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Law Enforcement are more likely to investigate issues of theft or damage to property within a certain threshold. Additionally get a medical screening at a local medical establishment, as it will generate a paper trail that can be referred to later. Unfortunately this process can be VERY dehumanizing and uncomfortable but creating documentation is REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT.

Footnotes

If you are a member of a Professional Security Organization, a Law Enforcement Organization, happen to be an appropriately licensed Legal Counsel, or just someone who has credible and intimate knowledge of any of these groups of people, and think you can add to or improve this list in any possible way, please contact us. Please be prepared to verify your identity or at least prove that your information is valid and credible.