28 November 2011

22,000 well behaved fans at Foreshore

28 November 2011 | By johnboy

ACT Policing praised the generally good behaviour of the 22,000 patrons at yesterday’s (Saturday, November 26) Foreshore 2011 Music Festival, held on the lawns of Old Parliament House.

Three people were arrested for offences relating to drug possession and assault on police and 13 people were taken to the ACT Watchhouse and placed in protective custody.

A further 10 intoxicated patrons were dealt with at the venue with police organising lifts home with friends and family members.

Five juveniles were dealt with by the Youth Reception Team for underage drinking.
Members of Victoria Police assisted ACT Policing by conducting crowd sweeps with specially trained drug detection dogs during the event.

The sweeps resulted in 128 patrons being searched after a dog indicated a drug odour on them.
Police seized drugs from 10 patrons, of which five will be summonsed to attend court and five will be referred to the Drug Diversion Program.

Of those searched, 58 people acknowledged that they had, within the last 24 hours, consumed some form of recreational drugs.

“Patrons were in good spirits and the crowd was generally well-behaved,” ACT Policing Acting Superintendent and Foreshore Operational Commander Donna Hofmeier said.

“Police were able to disperse festival goers from within an hour of the venue being closed down.”