Raid!

Pull up a chair, kids, and let old CK tell you about the time he was caught in a police raid on a private bdsm establishment. I'm not going to get detailed; the name of the club and the owners shall remain unlisted. Suffice it to say the organization which ran the club was on the right coast and said outfit is no longer around. At least, I haven't heard from any of the principles in years. What I was doing when the Imperial Storm Troopers broke in and who I was doing it with shall also remain nameless. But I did have all my clothes on and less than five people were involved. Stroke on that!
The place was located in one of those parts of town which had seen better days. At one point, I'd been charged with providing security for it. This was pretty easy; once I learned who the members were, I'd let them in without a hassle. Anyone else was invited to meet the club manager who would tell them what the place was all about (bdsm). Since the club did not go out of it's way to attract the wrong kind of attention, the only trouble I ever had was with the neighborhood kids. But keeping the little urchins away from the entrance door could prove challenging.
However, at the time of the intrusion, I'd already quit the security job. It didn't bring in enough money for the weekends consumed. I was there when the raid happened because I had a free evening and decided to go visit some of my co-workers.
The first thing I noted when I arrived was the main door: opened and unsecure. I pointed this fact out to one of the staff who assured me someone would soon be on duty. This should have been my first clue the front line defenses were slipping.
I hung out for several hours. Watched a few subbies get spanked, observed some clueless newbies troll for Dommes, the usual evening. I will say there was always a sense of unity at this place. It was the only club of it's kind in the city and the kinksters didn't have any place else to go. The likes of it have not been seen again.
Shortly after midnight I noticed the most amazing thing: four guys with a police officer fetish. It wasn't unusual to see someone in uniform at the club; anyone who's ever visited a gay leather bar can tell you all about the "police officers" walking around. But what struck me as odd was that these four dudes were holding flashlights. Now this was a kink I'd never witnessed before.
And then it hit me: RAID!
About thirty seconds later it wasn't just four guys with cop fetishes who were in the club, it was filled with all kinds of police. And they'd secured all entrances. Nobody was getting in or out.
For the next hour the club consisted of patrons scared shitless and cops who couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. I later discovered the city's finest had two objectives that evening: a whore house and the club. Someone had finked the club out to the license board, which was a big surprise to the staff and patrons because we'd always been told it was in compliance. The owners of the whore house had been tipped-off the gendarmes were on the way. This meant the crusaders had to go for objective #2. And they were loaded for bear.
I will say everyone behaved "cool". The club owner, who just happened to have the lawyer on hand, sat still and didn't say a word. Most of the cops were clustered in small groups discussing the legality of the situation. I even had a uniformed officer ask me what "fire play" was. Nobody tried to make an issue of anything.
After about 1/2 hour, some kind of majordomo arrived and told the owner the club was being shut down for code violations until further notice. Again, this was a big surprise to all of us who had been led to believe everything was cool with city hall. Then all the cops vacated the place and went home with plenty of stories to laugh at over at the bar. Fifty of so kinksters left quaking in their boots, grateful they wouldn't be on the late news.
The club never reopened. The owner tried to rally support, but most of the kinksters had moved onto other perversions. Besides, one close call with the paddy wagon was enough for most of us. I doubt if the place had opened anyone would have quickly returned.
There was obligitory in-depth article in a fashionable magazine about the raid and local scene a few months later. I found it amusing because the Jimmy Olsen who wrote the article tried to "recreate" the whole incident. Really absurd since cub reporter was never there at all. But I realize this is the "new media" and such things are irrelevant.
But after all the years later, I still wonder one thing: what would I have done had I been on duty that fateful night? The cops swarmed over the doorman when they arrived and he never had a chance to raise the alarm. Would I have saw them coming and hit the panic button? I like to think I'd have played Roland and stood there firm telling them in no uncertain terms that nobody was getting in that club unless my manager said elsewise. Yeah, that sounds good in a movie or book, but likley would've landed me a trip downtown with a nightstick up my ass. Would I have at least hit the button when I saw the cruisers arrive? I'll never know.