❓ Mrs Roberts questions the Minister for Police on the practicalities of a plan to make hosts pay for police attendance at out-of-control parties. The Minister's response is evasive, indicating the plan is still under consideration.
AnsweredQoN 374Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
OUT-OF-CONTROL
PARTIES — POLICE RESPONSE COST
374. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the minister's announcement on out-of-control
parties, specifically that hosts would have to pay for the cost of police
attendance.
(1) Can the minister explain how her
plan would work in practice?
(2) What specific costs will need to
be paid?
(3) What happens if responsible
hosts have their parties gatecrashed?
PARTIES — POLICE RESPONSE COST
374. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the minister's announcement on out-of-control
parties, specifically that hosts would have to pay for the cost of police
attendance.
(1) Can the minister explain how her
plan would work in practice?
(2) What specific costs will need to
be paid?
(3) What happens if responsible
hosts have their parties gatecrashed?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(3)
Nuisance or out-of-control parties have become a problem in recent times. Prior
to March 2012, police were averaging attendance at one to three unruly parties
per month. They have attended well over 30 such parties in the year to date.
The public are completely fed up with out-of-control parties; it is one of the
complaints that I get from the community. Our response to managing nuisance
parties will be at a number of levels. We are looking at a legislative response
that will give police additional powers to try to disperse crowds. We are also
looking at ways to try to free up some of the constraints around arresting
troublemakers more quickly.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You said people are going to have to pay. How is that going to work?
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We need to give police the tools that they need to manage out-of-control
parties.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
That is not what I asked. I asked specifically about your plan for people to
pay.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Some part of the response will need to be a tactical response on behalf of the
police.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Listen, don't just read out your notes. Why don't you answer
the question that I've asked you?
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland, I formally call you to order for the first time today only
because I am on my feet. While I am on my feet, my generosity extends to
offering you a supplementary question if you wish to do so. If you wish to
continually interrupt, I do not think you are going to get an answer to your
question.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
One fact that might be of interest to the house is that when police are often
called out to these parties, it is not only a drain on the taxpayer purse, but
also it pulls resources from other policing duties for which they may be
required on the night. The average cost of a police officer is about $90 per
hour. If 20 police officers attend an out-of-control party for three hours at a
time, we are looking at a cost to the taxpayer of approximately $5 000. I am
interested in looking at—my office and the department have looked into
this —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
So it is not a plan; you are just looking into it.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
have asked my people to look into what those costs would be. I will be making
sure that our response to this and any legislation that we introduce will
target the people who act irresponsibly—the people who are repeat
offenders in this space. Everybody knows the party house on their street that
continually has these out-of-control parties. We know who they are. The police
know who they are. We are going to ensure that as a government we give the
police the tools they need to target those people who behave irresponsibly.
(1)–(3)
Nuisance or out-of-control parties have become a problem in recent times. Prior
to March 2012, police were averaging attendance at one to three unruly parties
per month. They have attended well over 30 such parties in the year to date.
The public are completely fed up with out-of-control parties; it is one of the
complaints that I get from the community. Our response to managing nuisance
parties will be at a number of levels. We are looking at a legislative response
that will give police additional powers to try to disperse crowds. We are also
looking at ways to try to free up some of the constraints around arresting
troublemakers more quickly.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You said people are going to have to pay. How is that going to work?
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We need to give police the tools that they need to manage out-of-control
parties.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
That is not what I asked. I asked specifically about your plan for people to
pay.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Some part of the response will need to be a tactical response on behalf of the
police.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Listen, don't just read out your notes. Why don't you answer
the question that I've asked you?
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland, I formally call you to order for the first time today only
because I am on my feet. While I am on my feet, my generosity extends to
offering you a supplementary question if you wish to do so. If you wish to
continually interrupt, I do not think you are going to get an answer to your
question.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
One fact that might be of interest to the house is that when police are often
called out to these parties, it is not only a drain on the taxpayer purse, but
also it pulls resources from other policing duties for which they may be
required on the night. The average cost of a police officer is about $90 per
hour. If 20 police officers attend an out-of-control party for three hours at a
time, we are looking at a cost to the taxpayer of approximately $5 000. I am
interested in looking at—my office and the department have looked into
this —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
So it is not a plan; you are just looking into it.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
have asked my people to look into what those costs would be. I will be making
sure that our response to this and any legislation that we introduce will
target the people who act irresponsibly—the people who are repeat
offenders in this space. Everybody knows the party house on their street that
continually has these out-of-control parties. We know who they are. The police
know who they are. We are going to ensure that as a government we give the
police the tools they need to target those people who behave irresponsibly.
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