Newcastle’s bad night life reputation seems to have been shed, supposedly due to measures implemented to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence, according to Newcastle City local area commander Superintendent John Gralton.

The city’s top cop said that it had finally shed the “bloodbath” after dark reputation when speaking at the Community Drug Action Team Conference at City Hall.

The top cop also told the Newcastle Herald that the city’s police were now hunting for trouble rather than what they previously did when they were overwhelmed with the violence and prevalence of drunken misconduct.

Superintendent John Gralton said that “Five years ago the city was described as a bloodbath after dark”.

He went on to explain, according to a post on www.theherald.com.au

“Now, anecdotally, my police are telling me there is far less violence in and around the city and the streets are calmer.

“Whereas previously they wouldn’t have had time to stop someone urinating on the streets because they were too busy dealing with violence, they now tell me they are hunting for people (causing trouble) in the streets.”

Superintendent Gralton highlighted figures released by Hunter New England population health director John Wiggers at the conference.

These figures showed Newcastle had maintained a 33 per cent reduction in reported assaults since bringing forward pub and club closing times to 3am in 2008.

“Since that time we’ve focused on consequence policing which means making sure someone receives a consequence for poor behaviour in the city,” Superintendent Gralton said, also crediting the group banning and scanning system in the city’s entertainment precinct and police and industry working closer together.

Source: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1780469/alcohol-bloodbath-over-conference/?cs=303

The cop went on to explain that there has since been a significant reduction in malicious damage. He also explained that it is not the police’s intention to stop people from having fun but they want people to feel comfortable and safe when they go out. There has been a significant positive change in the city since the police stepped up their game and patrons in entertainment districts who are out to have a good time responsibly will benefit from this.

During the conference an Associate Professor from Deakin University, Professor Peter Miller said that the decline in Newcastle’s booze filled violence was attributed to less people indulging in the dangerous practice of heavy pre-loading before hitting the town.

According to a study which looked at evidence from Newcastle and Geelong, it was common for drinkers to consume a lot of alcohol before they left home so that they could get drunk while spending less money before even leaving home. Statistics showed that this quadrupled drinker’s chance of getting in brawls.

The post went on to explain:

“We conducted interviews with patrons and it showed changes in culture (in Newcastle) with declining levels of pre-drinking and people going out earlier,” he said.

The lock-out and earlier closing times meant people had to be in the city earlier, so could not drink as much at home.

The two-day conference will wrap up on Tuesda, with Dr Adrian Dunlop, the director of Hunter New England Health’s drug and alcohol clinical services, among the speakers.

Source: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1780469/alcohol-bloodbath-over-conference/?cs=303