Police blitz nets dozens


Police arrested 54 people in Melbourne last night in a national crackdown on anti-social behaviour but the numbers didn’t come within cooee of those in Sydney, where more than 400 people were detained.

On the first night of Operation Unite, an Australian and New Zealand operation tackling alcohol abuse and violence, 45 people were arrested for drunkenness in Melbourne and nine people were arrested for assault.

Police also visited 286 licensed venues and issued 11 liquor licensing offences.

Almost 500 police took to the streets of Melbourne’s CBD as well as the Moonee Valley, Hawthorn, Prahran and St Kilda areas.In Sydney, about 1000 police were deployed with 442 arrests made and 511 charges laid - an increase of 109 arrests compared to the first night of the same operation last year.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said on Saturday morning the message of the operation was that police ‘‘were not going to tolerate drunken, violent, unruly behaviour’’.

‘‘Most importantly I think what we’re trying to do is send a message about a need for cultural change,’’ he told the Seven Network.

‘‘There is a need for younger people to understand that they have some responsibility, they need to respect other members of the community and the community’s right to go about their own business in the public domain.

‘‘We need these people just to think about their behaviour, their alcohol intake and just start to act a little bit more responsibly.’’

The operation will continue on Saturday night.When Operation Unite ran last December 12 and 13, Victoria Police arrested almost 400 people for drunkenness and 50 over assaults, when more than 800 extra police were sent to the streets of Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Bairnsdale and Frankston on Friday and Saturday nights.

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