Police make call for pub lockouts

FED-UP police have called for a midnight 'lockout' trial on Sydney's inner-city pubs and clubs following another weekend of booze-fuelled violence.

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FED-UP police have called for a midnight 'lockout' trial on Sydney's inner-city pubs and clubs following another weekend of booze-fuelled violence.

They say a late-night ban will go a long way to curb the escalation of crime on Sydney's streets.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and the Police Association both support the move, with Association boss Scott Webb going a step further by calling for a 3am curfew.

"We totally endorse it because it would address the migration route and the associated violence outside venues," he said.

Mr Scipione said: "If we find there is evidence that we should be looking at a lockout, we will seek support from the government to make the necessary changes."

With the start of Operation Simmer for this festive season, City Central Commander Mark Walton and Drug and Alcohol Commander Pat Paroz said 80 per cent of their resources were taken up each weekend dealing with drunks.

"With a level of intoxication comes an inability to determine right from wrong, with glassings, stomping on people's heads, use of weapons, and there is never, never a weekend without violence now", Commander Walton said.

"I've always been an advocate for a lockout.

The Sunday Telegraph spent Saturday on midnight patrol with police in Kings Cross and the city, and it wasn't pleasant.

Josh Quinn, 19, from Campbelltown, tells how he was bashed on the dance floor of a club, losing his two front teeth.

Across from McDonald's, a young man in designer jeans and expensive shoes had passed out in his own vomit.

In the city, at the southern end of George St another lies slumped dangerously near a busy bus stop. "We can't leave him here because someone will come along and kick him in the head," Inspector Bingham said.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said alcohol-fuelled violence was one of the "biggest challenges" for police.

"The police are rightly sick and tired of being subjected to abuse and violence on Friday and Saturday nights in our major entertainment districts, and that's why the NSW government has given them extra move-on powers. There needs to be a change in culture and that starts with people taking responsibility for their actions."

According to the Bureau of Crime Statistics, the chance of being assaulted is 25 times greater within 20m of a liquor outlet and 60 per cent of all assaults occur within a 50m radius of a licensed premise.

There were 16,731 non-domestic alcohol-related assaults in 2010 and 2403 of those were recorded in the Sydney CBD, according to the bureau.

"Just like we never have a weekend now without assaults, I don't have a weekend without some type of injury to my staff," Commander Walton said.