Lockouts prove key to curbing violence
Pub lockouts that ban patrons entering licensed premises after a late night deadline but allow those already inside to keep drinking could be the answer to curbing drunken violence in Kings Cross, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione believes.
After the success of trials in Newcastle and Wollongong, Mr Scipione said the government was seriously considering broadening the system into other trouble spots.
With pressure increasing to find a solution to alcohol-related incidents following the death of teenager Thomas Kelly, who died after being punched during a night out in Sydney's red light district, and several stabbings at Parramatta, Mr Scipione said: "We've had great success in the use of lockout provisions and there's no reason why I wouldn't think they'd be just as successful if they were applied in the Cross.
"A lot of the violence that we have to manage and deal with comes from when a person leaves a venue and comes to another venue.
"If there's no other venue for them to go to and they're locked in then we know that, in Newcastle particularly, that has reduced the level of violence."
Mr Scipione said a committee set up by Premier Barry O'Farrell and chaired by the head of the Premier's Department Chris Eccles, which included representatives from the City of Sydney, had discussed the lockouts proposal last week.
"We've certainly got a strong view and it's supported by what we've seen in Newcastle, so we know it will make a difference." he said.
The Police Association have also been pushing for the Newcastle system, where lockouts are enforced at pubs from 1am and pubs close at 3am, to be introduced across the state.
Mr Scipione seemed less than enthusiastic about the government's promise to set up "drunk tanks" or sobering-up centres, but confirmed police were still working with the government to deliver on the promise.
He said: "If you think you can arrest your way out of this type of problem, you're simply wrong. You could put every police officer in this nation out on patrol every Saturday night and take into custody a drunk. You know what would happen the very next night? The same thing."
Asked if that meant drunk tanks were a silly idea, the Commissioner said: "Drunk tanks are a government commitment and we're working with government to work through it.
"The notion of a drunk tank going into a trial is something we'll all have to wait and see what the outcomes are. We've never had them."
What resources police might have to implement the policy - which involves the setting up of three "sobering up centres" promised by Mr O'Farrell last year - were still being "worked through".
Mr Scipione said Kings Cross, the George St cinema area, Surry Hills and the Rocks were key crime hotspots and people should be aware police would be out in force.
But there were "no guarantees" that everyone could be protected.
A spokeswoman for the Premier declined to speculate on the prospect of lockouts, saying only that "a whole of government management plan was being developed for the Kings Cross precinct" and that "NSW police, multiple other government agencies and the City of Sydney were providing valuable input".
Source: The Daily Telegraph, 6 September 2012
