Police fear St Kilda beach brawl in wake of Christmas Day drunken chaos
A MASSIVE police presence has assured the public’s safety amid earlier fears that warring groups of youths were planning to meet for a violent beach brawl at St Kilda on the night of Boxing Day.
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POLICE have reassured the public is safe after threatening messages on social media claimed an organised fight would occur in St Kilda this evening.
Police spokeswoman Natalie Butler said Victoria Police was aware of a message that had been posted and circulated on a social media site.
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A massive operation was underway in the bayside suburb on Boxing Day earlier Tuesday afternoon due to fears of a violent racial-fuelled beach brawl.
It is understood police had intelligence to suggest youths of African appearance were being baited on Facebook by youths of caucasian appearance to come to the foreshore to fight.
“Public safety is the highest priority for Victoria Police and we will not tolerate those who break the law, and simply won’t tolerate any anti-social behaviour or violence,” Ms Butler said.
“Victoria Police has engaged with relevant communities and does not have any evidence to suggest any escalation of violence or misconduct as a result of the message being circulated.”
St Kilda saw an increased number of police today, with dozens of officers on horseback, in boats, and on foot patrolling a 1km stretch of beach outside the St Kilda Life Saving Club.
Heavily armed specialist squad police were asked to be ready to respond.
The local police inspector and detectives joined uniformed officers and inspectors from Port Phillip council patrolling the beach, which was packed with tourists and families enjoying the 29C sunshine.
Ms Butler said police would be ready if the organised thugs were to fight in public.
“We are equipped and well-prepared to deploy resources and to respond and intervene where needed,” she said.
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The operation came after thousands of drunk revellers left behind an $18,000 clean-up bill on St Kilda’s foreshore.
Celebrations soured at an unruly backpacker beach party, with nearly 5000 revellers turning up to the event on Christmas Day.
People spilt on to the streets and the party had to be broken up by police when they drunkenly descended on the foreshore.
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Port Phillip Council is facing a hefty clean-up bill for the mess and will now review an extension of its alcohol ban to include Christmas Day in 2018.
Locals arrived at the beach Boxing Day morning to find their foreshore resembling a tip, with rubbish — including broken glass — littered across the ground.
The council says it is appalled by the thoughtless behaviour of the crowd, believed to be mainly international tourists.
Ash Prince, a backpacker running the GypoTravels adventure blog, said posters in his hostel had advertised a beach party, but word-of-mouth had driven thousands more to join.
“I turned up around 1pm and we noticed a few groups of people on the grass (but) no more than 200 at first,” he said.
“Heaps more people started to arrive, and as more videos were posted online, more people began to come.”
Victoria Police Inspector Jason Kelly said up to 5000 people had been on the foreshore last night.
“What really disappoints Victoria Police is the level of intoxication, evidenced by the amount of rubbish left behind,” he said.
“It (the garbage) is not acceptable. Really it’s about respect and the behaviours of people who came down.”
Insp Kelly said police would be enforcing the 10-day alcohol ban that begins tonight for public streets in Port Phillip Council’s boundaries.
“We welcome all people down to the St Kilda foreshore but what people need to do is respect the local community, respect environment and really abide by the local by-laws,” he said.
A 27-year-old man was taken to hospital after he was hit by a tram.
At least two were arrested for being drunk in a public place and a 27-year-old woman was hospitalised for intoxication.
Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss said the clean-up would cost thousands of dollars.
“The sheer number of intoxicated people milling around in the area has also resulted in council having to close some roads, creating a traffic nightmare for residents returning home from visiting friends and relatives on Christmas Day,” she said.
“We are incredibly disappointed by this behaviour which was not expected as low temperatures, which do not usually attract crowds, were forecast for today.”
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Partygoer Alex said the event was never formally organised. “We didn’t expect the whole beach to be dancing at the end of it,” he said.
“The only reason there was so much litter is that there are no bins anywhere …
“If the police weren’t so aggressive in moving people promptly, then there would have been some consideration (for the rubbish).”