New figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows cocaine offences in Sydney’s Double Bay precinct more than doubled in the year leading to September 2015.
The Wentworth Courier reports the number of recorded incidents grew from 770 per 100,000 to 1870 per 100,000 over that year; tellingly, that time period also covers the first full year of the city’s lockout laws.
Business owners in the area have reported a marked increase in their clientele since the laws passed, as other prominent nightlife spots have seen the exact opposite.
Rose Bay Police Commander Brad Hodder told the paper the increasing number of reports was “achieved by conducting drug dog operations and police being proactive in general.”
Conversely, that increase could also be attributed to punters who formerly visited Kings Cross and Potts Point flocking to Double Bay instead; it’s also worth mentioning cocaine offences in Potts Point over the same time period dropped from 1646 per 100,000 to 1146 per 100,000.
However, those figures are not commensurate with the massive decline in foot traffic recorded in adjacent Kings Cross, suggesting reported cocaine offences haven’t dropped in lockstep with the number of punters in the region.
Both Woollahra Mayor Toni Zeltzer and the Bureau’s head Dr Don Weatherburn declined to comment to the paper on the findings.
Source: Wentworth Courier.
