City won’t be safe unless alcohol by-law changes

An inspector has come out swinging against 3am closing in his city’s bars.

Palmerston North’s bars are under siege as the city debates if nightclubs should shut at 2am or stay at 3am in the council’s local alcohol policy draft following a series of drunken assaults in the CBD.

The Palmerston North City Council has put forward three versions of a Local Alcohol Policy in seven years in a bid to reduce alcohol harm.

Inspector Ross Grantham, prevention manager for Manawatu¯, told the council in a submission in December that police supported a 2am closing, citing the community’s safety trumped any argument, economic or otherwise. While pre-loading fuelled the issue, it was the topping off in the bars that pushed patrons over the edge and led to violent and disorderly behaviour, Grantham stated.

In Gary Wright’s submission, owner of Bubbles, The Celtic Inn and The Fish, he argued professional bar owners and employees were the least interested in having bad behaviour, intoxication or violence in their bars.

On-licenced venues were safer places to consume alcohol since they were supervised environments, Wright stated, as they had trained staff to assist and reduce the amount of potential harm.

However, Grantham asserted that safety in bars was somewhat of an illusion. Often it was unreported and troublemakers were kicked out onto the street, where they then tried to settle their differences.

‘‘This is supported by the fact that often police attend incidents of violence or disorder outside or down the road from an onlicensed premise, to be told it all started over something that happened within a bar. All licensed premises, either on or off-license have to accept that they contribute in some way to alcohol-related harm.’’

The state of the nightlife in the city also took its toll on emergency services, Grantham submitted.

Palmerston North police had tailored its staffing to deal with the volume of ‘‘crime and disorder the city was experiencing’’ to reduce the risk officers were faced with.

Two safety teams are rostered on to mitigate the risk of drunken violent behaviour towards others and themselves, as well as four Safecity Hosts who try to help party goers and break up altercations where possible.

‘‘Palmerston North police operate a special roster specifically to have maximum deployable staff available to respond to incidents perpetrated by intoxicated persons.

‘‘[The] council should also consider the police officers who have to deal with the intoxicated and disorderly patrons attending onlicense premises and managing the aftermath at 3am when the on-license premises close.’’

Grantham also stated St John had experienced an increase in call-outs to heavily intoxicated people and victims of violence.

The final version of the policy was expected to be presented to the council at the end of this month.