Tasmania Police detected a total of 88 offences over the weekend of Operation Unite: A Blitz Against Drunken Violence.

Operation Unite was run over the Friday and Saturday nights in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie (Friday only) and Devonport (Saturday only).  Over the course of the two nights 158 police have been deployed as part of the operation in designated zones of those cities.

The State Coordinator of Operation Unite, Acting Commander Robert Gunton, stated that the low numbers of offences and positive interaction with patrons experienced on Friday night around the state had continued again on Saturday night.

There were 88 offences detected over the course of the two day operation in the zones patrolled as part of Operation Unite.  Specific categories of offences were as follows:  Public order arrests/reports: 27; Assaults: 1;  Licensing breaches: 52 and Breathalyser offences: 8.  The offences were dealt with either by arrest, prosecution by summons or by the issuing of Liquor Infringement Notices.

There were 4 reports in Burnie, 11 in Devonport, 32 in Hobart and 41 in Launceston. In Hobart the majority of reports were for breaches of licensing legislation, but also included one assault and a single public nuisance offence. In Launceston, a mix of offence types was detected with one 24 public order offences, 13 licensing offences and 4 breathalyser offences.  On the north west coast, police dealt with 2 public order offences, 9 licensing breaches and 4 breathalyser offences.  The most prominent type of offence dealt with by police over the weekend was the possession of open containers of alcohol in a public street.

19 Move-On Orders were issued during the operation around the State.

“Operation Unite has provided an opportunity for Tasmania Police to participate in a united front to address alcohol related violence.  One of our main goals in this operation was to send a clear and direct message to the community that violence and anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol consumption is unacceptable.  The generally positive interaction between the police, patrons and licensees during the course of this operation will assist in delivering that message,” said Acting Commander Gunton.

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