Crime rates down in Kings Cross

By Michael Gormly

Stealing, assaults and robbery in the Kings Cross district over the past three months had all reduced compared to the same period last year, reported acting superintendent Inspector Peter Brooks at the last Police Community meeting for 2008.

However Inspector Brooks was unable to provide any hard data for a precise comparison.

The meeting was attended by five local residents whose main concerns were noise and alcohol issues.

‘I live on the 19th floor with double-glazed windows, and still it’s in my lounge room,’ one said.

Drug detections were also lower but this could reflect the time and resources needed to make arrests rather than the amount of drugs in circulation, said Inspector Brooks. A single arrest might tie up 10’15 police for several days.

While fewer drugs had been found, more searches and ‘move-ons’ had been conducted this year, he said.

‘Undesirable people’ were targeted for person searches ‘ ‘the sort that present an image you might not want down here.’

There would be ‘tonnes of police’ on duty for News Year’s Eve and, going on previous years, police were not expecting too much trouble.

‘I’m looking forward to the day when we can stop the strippers standing on the awnings popping champagne corks, sending a signal that Kings Cross is an area still dominated by that sort of activity,’ said Inspector Brooks.