Subdued start to new year – police

Kim Waters and Erin Pearson
POLICE have given the thumbs up to partygoer behaviour across Geelong, Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula following a low-incident Christmas and New Year period.
Geelong Inspector Garry Thompson said the station had recorded “far less” arrests than last year’s festive period.
Insp Thompson said the introduction of on-the-spot fines for offences such as underage consumption of alcohol and unsocial behaviour were a useful deterrent.
“If you correlate the reduction with the recent push towards behavioural fines related to drunkenness and alcohol it seems to me it’s picked up by the community,” he said.
“It’s an early indication Mr and Mrs General Public seem to getting the message.”
Insp Thompson said thefts from motor vehicles, assaults, sexual assaults and drunken behaviour were low but warned the summer period wasn’t over yet.
“We haven’t had the hot periods yet that bring people out onto the streets so we will keep maintaining the push towards safety,” he said.
“Burglary numbers have unfortunately stayed the same but we are addressing that through local tasking units.
“The issue of willful and obscene exposure has been noticeable so we are calling on people to be wary of things that don’t appear to be quite right and report them to police right away.”
Torquay Acting Senior Sergeant Adrian Bickley said the Surf Coast was also “subdued” with minimal arrests.
“On New Years Eve Torquay locked up only eight drunks and Lorne four which is below average.”
Insp Bickley also credited the new fines with reducing bad behavior.
Drunks face $478 fines, behavioural offenses $478 and underage drinking $60.
“People who’ve been drinking all day are thinking twice about driving down to the Surf Coast because there is a strong possibility they’ll be pulled over and breath tested,” he said.
Drysdale Police leading senior constable Glenn Styles said his station recorded “no major incidents” over the same period, except for a cyclist hit and killed by a car in the town on January 3.
Barwon Heads 13th Beach Surf Life Saving Club Captain Lis Terriman said “colder than usual” weather had also kept beaches “relatively quiet”.
“We had a few days with strong currents and big swells but it was more a case of assisting swimmers than actually rescuing them,” she said.
“As the weather heats up we’d encourage all beach goers to swim between the flags and stay away from any non-patrolled beaches.”