Lockouts backed by scanners
The effectiveness of the lockouts in Sydney has always been up for question.
But police and the local liquor accord say one of the keys to its success has been the use of scanners.
Indeed, they say the use of scanners has been as effective in reducing violence as the lockout laws.
Last week’s Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) report attributed the 49 per cent drop in non-domestic assaults in the precinct to the effects of lockout and last drinks laws.
But the Kings Cross Liquor Accord (KCLA) and local police believe the scanners have been just as important.
They point to the drop in assaults in Kings Cross being three times as much as the drop in the CBD entertainment precinct.
The difference, they say, lies in the scanners.
“While there are a number of factors as to why Kings Cross precinct has had a greater increase, Kings Cross police regard the ID scanners as equally important to reducing crime in licensed premises as the lock outs,” Superintendent Michael Fitzgerald told the Daily Telegraph.
The scanners, he said, “not only reduced violence in the licensed premises but have had massive reductions in thefts and other crime occurrences in those premises.”
He said the scanners “created an environment where it is never been safer to socialise in Kings Cross licensed premises”.
Venues are required to scan patron identification between 9pm and 5am every night of operation, under the system introduced in June 2014.
This was introduced into the King’s Cross four months after the lockout laws in order to reduce alcohol related violence.
Data from BOSCAR shows there was a sharp decline around the middle of the year when the ID scanners came into effect.
It’s been so effective that NSW Police now say ID scanners should also be mandatory for high risk venues in the Sydney CBD.
by Leon Gettler, March 22nd 2017
