By MICHELLE HERBISON
ONLINE photographs and tip-offs from parents are helping police target underage night-clubbers using fake identification.
Sergeant Aaron Riches told the Independent police were “overwhelmed” with intelligence leading them to underage offenders.
“These kids seem to think it’s a badge of honour having their photo on the internet holding a Smirnoff in Home House,” he said.
The venues’ websites are packed with photos of their patrons and those things are open to the community.”
Sgt Riches said Geelong’s clubs were hosting up to 100 underage offenders on any given Saturday night.
“We’ve got girls purporting to be 19 or 20 when they’re actually 15 and 16. We have so far in the last two weeks identified nine underage offenders found on licensed venues and they’ve been issued with penalty notices.
“We’re being aggressive in our approach.”
Sgt Riches said tips from Crime Stoppers and phone calls from parents had also led to police nabbing underage revellers.
“We’ve had parents ringing in requesting we move on their children as well as offering some sort of counselling because it can become a culture for them.”
Sgt Riches said a Moorabool St night-club licensee was fined $845 and could face increased licence fees for allowing entry to underage people.
One mother was absolutely devastated to find her 17-year-old daughter had been out on the town when believed to be staying at a friend’s house, he said.
“It’s very emotive to find out that for the last six months the daughter’s been lying to her parents,” Sgt Riches said.
“She was identified from the internet after she posted a raft of photographs of herself in different venues. She used fake identification and came up in our internet audit of underage offenders on premises.”
Sgt Riches said having to undergo the indignity of attending the police station with their parents and being identified as a lawbreaker at school created problems for teens.
“It’s a difficult position for the parents to be in and tests the relationship. If we’re going to change the culture of drinking in Geelong it starts with parents being aware of where their kids are.”
