Police ready for Australia Day 'yobbos'
More than 600 extra officers will be put on duty for this year's Australia Day fireworks extravaganza in the CBD as police gear up for their busiest day of the year.
Regular forces will also patrol Perth suburbs for out-of-control parties.
Mermaids add a splash of colour
Commander of the Australia Day operations Lawrence Panaia said though WA police would not be out to spoil the fun of Australia Day revellers, they would be ensuring everyone behaved responsibly and got home safely.
"We want everyone to have a good time - we're not there to stop people having fun but we will not tolerate antisocial behaviour and we will not tolerate drink-driving," he said.
Supt Panaia said though arrests were down last year compared with previous years, of concern was drink-driving.
During last year's celebrations, eight people were charged with driving under the influence and a dozen with driving with a blood alcohol level above 0.08.
Supt Panaia said this was unacceptable and police would be targeting drink-drivers this year.
The highest concentration of police will be in the Perth city area for most of the day, but big celebrations scheduled in Scarborough and Fremantle will also have a strong police presence.
Supt Panaia said though the "yobbo" element had all but been eliminated from the CBD celebrations, it was still a strong factor in the suburbs.
"It's not just Australia Day," he said.
"You see it almost every weekend at out-of-control parties there is that yobbo or antisocial element," he said.
"We will divert resources if we need to but we are well planned to deal with any thing like that happening at gatherings in the suburbs on Australia Day."
