Unruly party warning

By Sarah Schwager
POLICE have issued warnings to the Cranbourne and Hampton Park areas this summer as local parties rage out of control.
Numerous reports of unruly, unsupervised and illegal parties in the two suburbs have prompted police to warn parents and teenagers of the dangers of having a night out this party season.
Perhaps most shocking in recent months has been reports of people charging up to $10 to gain entry to parties in Cranbourne and Hampton Park, and keeping unlicensed security at the door.
Some of these parties attracted up to 400 guests and police were forced to shut them down after they became unruly and potentially dangerous to nearby residents.
Casey Acting Inspector Alan Dew said police suspected a lot of under age drinking was occurring at these parties and said he was concerned that the party organisers were making a large profit from hosting the events.
“In some instances some of the youths have become quite unruly and in one recent incident alcohol bottles were thrown at a police divisional van,” Insp Dew said. “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and these parties require a large amount of police attention and cause a great deal of disruption to the community when things get out of hand.
“With text messages and Internet social pages such as MySpace word is travelling quickly among young people about these parties and hundreds of youths are attending.”
Insp Dew said it seemed some parents and guardians held the view that they would rather buy alcohol for their own children than have them attempt to illegally buy it themselves or have someone else buy it for them.
“Many parents seem to be buying their kids four-packs of pre-mixed drinks thinking their children will be able to handle it when in fact they are becoming quite highly intoxicated,” he said.
On the spot fines for under age drinking include $54 for possession of alcohol in the street or in a public place or for being under age in a licensed premises, $645 for supplying alcohol to a minor, $161 for refusing to or giving a false name and $215 for making a false proof of age.
“Anti-social behaviour arising from these parties is of real concern to police, as are other offences which often occur in conjunction with the consumption of alcohol. These include assaults, criminal damage and theft from motor vehicles,” Insp Dew said.
Police have also called on parents to play a more active role by checking whether they had adequate security measures in place to hold a party.
“Despite many parents and party hosts having the best of intentions, the possibility of gatecrashers and the issues associated with under age drinking mean that hosting a party is an event that requires a great deal of forethought and preparation,” Insp Dew said.
For information about the Victoria Police Partysafe program visit www.police.vic.gov.au or call Cranbourne youth resource officer Senior Constable Brett Owen on 5991 0612.