WA POLICE Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan believes the biggest issue facing South West police is controlling concerts and sporting matches in the events capital of the state.
The comments came at a presentation the Commissioner made at a Bunbury Chamber of Commerce and Industries lunch on Friday.
Presenting on the changing face of policing, Commissioner O’Callaghan said event organisers should take more responsibility for the safety of crowds and the general public.
“Event such as Groovin The Moo charge high prices for their tickets and sell alcohol throughout the day,” he said.
“They make a huge profit but don’t have enough security guards to handle the issues that come from alcohol consumption.
“The WA police often have to mobilise teams from Perth and the cost of the police effort should be offset by the event organisers.”
But Sunset Events director David Chitty, who organises Groovin The Moo and Southbound in the South West, said he did not think it was appropriate to target events for any funding pressures.
“Music events are under extreme pressure at the moment and we feel there is a bigger political issue around police funding and where they get it from,” he said.
“Sunset Events currently has a good relationship with police and while the Commissioner may apply his approach for funding from events in a general sense we are not comfortable with the blanket approach.”
Mr Chitty said any police costs would have to be added onto the ticket price in order to remain sustainable which was not fair to spectators.
“Spectators always express they are happy with how we run our events and the security numbers provided,” he said.
“Why should events organisations that invest resources into minimising the issues satisfactorily be potentially punished by others who do not?”
