A debate on reducing pub-related violence in NSW is overdue, police commissioner Andrew Scipione says.
However, alcohol-fuelled violence and property damage in Newcastle were declining, Mr Scipione says, after a curfew and earlier closing hours for pubs in the area were imposed six months ago.
He is pushing for similar changes to trading hours in all NSW pubs in response to what affected residents are saying.
"All I'm doing is listening to the community," Mr Scipione told Fairfax Radio Network on Monday.
"They tell me enough is enough. They tell me what they want and they do it quite regularly."
He also said police officers were being injured, some severely, after becoming entangled in pub brawls.
"You can't expect police to go to work not knowing that they're going to come home, or at least there would be a very good chance that they'll come home (not) in good shape."
Police did have the power to shut down a pub deemed to be experiencing elevated levels of adverse behaviour, he said, but a statewide debate on earlier closing hours was overdue.
"This is a debate that needs to be had," he said.
The rules in Newcastle are designed to stop all night pub crawls with a 1am curfew - meaning no more patrons are allowed in after that and everyone must leave by 3am.
"We reduced the number of trading hours in that particular area and we've seen great results in the six months or so that we've been running that particular trial," Mr Scipione said.
Front page
RSS Feed