THOUSANDS of extra police will be deployed over the weekend as part of a trans-Tasman blitz on alcohol abuse and violence.
Senior police say it's time to curb a culture of excessive alcohol consumption which is costing Australia $36 billion a year.
"We've actually got to start saying no to excessive drinking, drunken violence and anti-social behaviour," NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said.
Officers in every state and territory, as well as in New Zealand, will take part in Operation Unite from Friday to Sunday, deliberately targeting licensed premises and known trouble spots, targeting drunks, criminal and anti-social behaviour. .
In Victoria tonight and tomorrow, hundreds of police will take to the streets of Melbourne’s CBD, as well as Moonee Ponds, Hawthorn, Prahran and St Kilda areas.
Transit police will be targeting alcohol-related offences on city trains and trams as well as major CBD stations.
Licensing police will be visiting bars, pubs and nightclubs to ensure patron safety, and the State Highway Patrol will be flooding roads to crack down on drink-driving and poor driver behaviour.
Chief Commissioner Simon Overland said Operation Unite aims to demonstrate the united resolve of police commissioners to change Australia and New Zealand’s culture of binge drinking in public places.
"This is the second time police have come together for a weekend of action on alcohol-related violence and behaviour and we are doing this to send a clear message – we have had enough," Mr Overland said.
"Police will not put up with drunken, anti-social behaviour and related violence. We are committed to tackling this issue and we are committed to tackling a culture that permits drunken behaviour.
"But we can’t do this alone – to make a change we need to act as a community.
"We all must take responsibility. Friends must take responsibility for the behaviour of their friends– family members must take responsibility for sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. And most importantly, individuals must take responsibility for their alcohol intake and behaviour.
"What we want is to create safe cities for everyone to enjoy at all times of day and night."
Victoria Police arrested almost 400 people for drunkenness as part of Operation Unite in December last year. Police visited 1563 licensed venues across the state and detected 83 liquor licensing offences, with 23 of those found in Melbourne. More than 110 people were issued with banning notices, excluding them from pubs and clubs in the designated CBD for 48 hours.
Marine police and highway patrol officers will also carry out additional breath tests.
But Australian police commissioners say communities need to play their own part in helping change Australia's entrenched binge-drinking culture.
"Certainly we're committed to tackling the effects of alcohol misuse but I've got to say, we can't do it alone," Mr Scipione told reporters.
"We're looking to the community to also make a stand and push for a change in culture and acceptable standards of behaviour in this area.
Mr Scipione pointed to a report published recently by the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation that says the total cost of alcohol misuse to Australian communities is $36 billion.
Part of that includes the cost to emergency service personnel.
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