POLICE were forced to use capsicum spray to subdue intoxicated revellers after New Year’s Eve celebrations at Mollymook Beach got out of hand.
With extra police officers rostered on to cope with the New Year’s Eve numbers, police conducted regular patrols of the Mollymook Beach area before they were called in force at 10.30pm when a large fight occurred.
Police arrived and attempted to contain the situation, which saw several of those involved in the brawl last out at officers.
When several of the intoxicated individuals resisted police arrest, the officers were forced to use capsicum spray to control the situation.
During the scuffle, several police officers sustained minor injuries and were treated by ambulance officers who attended scene.
Inspector Bill Carter told the Times that despite the behaviour of the minority, police were generally impressed with the behaviour of people celebrating New Year’s Eve.
“The Ulladulla Police had extra officers rostered on for New Year’s Eve to ensure they could actively maintain safety in the area,” Insp Carter said.
“Lots of forward planning went into the operation, we based the police rosters and patrols on previous celebrations and this paid off.”
Police said numbers at Mollymook Beach were down slightly on last year and estimated that between 400 and 500 people, mainly young people, congregated at Mollymook Beach.
Following the brawl, in which seven people were arrested, police spent the next two hours clearing out the area and said most people complied with police requests to move on with little hassle.
Insp Carter said a large amount of alcohol was confiscated over the evening and subsequently destroyed by police.
“The root cause of the problems faced by police on New Year’s Eve was once again alcohol,” Insp Carter said.
“It is sad to see that the anti-social behaviour of a few intoxicated individuals can spoil it for the others who were generally well behaved.”
Police will use experience gained during New Year’s Eve in the planning of the upcoming Australia day operation where officers will again target antisocial behaviour.
“We hope to see that people can be on their best behaviour for Australia day and will again conduct a large operation across the Australia day long weekend,” Insp Carter said.