Few arrests at weekend celebrations

MOST of the Carnival of Flowers attendees were well behaved except for a handful who were arrested for resisting police, public urination and drug possession.

Queensland Police Senior Sergeant Tony Neumann is still working through the full list of arrests but said they were minor, given the large number of people in town.

“It is always busy for police officers on the Carnival of Flowers weekend and the majority of attendees were excellent,” he said.

“We were called to a few disturbances at side show alley area and the food and wine festival. Unfortunately, there were a number of people who had to be removed and arrested, which was disappointing.

“Some were removed for high intoxication levels and unfortunately some of those people resisted the police.

“On one patron we found what we believe to be cocaine.”

Despite the big crowds on the Saturday and Sunday night, the city CBD was relatively quiet.

Sergeant Neumann said the CBD arrest rate was average.

“While there were a lot of patrons who moved to the CBD precinct after the food and wine festival, we did not see an increase in offending,” he said.

“Some of the lines at the venues were huge, for example the line at Fitzy’s was back toward the Quest apartments, but the people in those lines behaved themselves.”

Sgt Neumann also praised the behaviour of drivers and pedestrians during the Grand Central Floral Parade.

“Saturday was probably the busiest day of the year for us in terms of traffic and a significant number who viewed the parade are from out of town. That meant traffic around the CBD at 3pm was very difficult to manage.

“From the QPS perspective we would like to thank the public for their patience at licenced venues, driving through the city and at the various events.

“It made the job of council staff, SES volunteers and police a hell of a lot easier.’’