Extra police powers zone grows four times in size
Police will have powers to search, remove and ban people from an area encompassing most of the northern end of the CBD.
An area about four times larger than the initial Hindley Street precinct is the new zone for a “Declared Public Precinct”, giving police extra powers across the entirety of Hindley Street and Rundle Mall.
SA Police will also have these extra powers every day of the week after Attorney General Kyam Maher approved the changes last Friday.
The new DPP zone encompasses an area bordered by Grenfell/Currie Street, Pultney Street, West Terrace, Montefiore Road, the River Torrens, Victoria Drive, Kintore Avenue and North Terrace.
In that zone police can search any person for weapons, carry out drug detection, order people “posing a risk to public safety” to leave the area, ban a person from the precinct for up to 24 hours, and remove children at risk of physical harm.
People who are barred but enter or remain in the DPP can be fined $2500 and expiation notices of $344 can also be issued by the police to those “behaving in an offensive or disorderly manner”.
Carrying weapons within the DPP can attract a penalty of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to two years.
The changes come into effect from 11 July, and will run until 9 October 2023. In June, acting police commissioner Linda Williams said SA Police would “seek to have [the DPP] renewed” once it expires.
The DPP will be operational from:
- Monday to Thursday 10.00 am to 10.00 pm
- Friday 6.00 pm to 6.00 am Saturday
- Saturday 6.00 pm to 6.00 am Sunday
- Sunday 6.00 pm to 10.00 pm.
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Previously, the DPP was only effective on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm and 6am in an area encompassing Hindley St and bordered by North Terrace, West Terrace, King William Street and Currie Street.
SA Police requested the new powers in June, in conjunction with a bolstered police presence at North Terrace as a “circuit breaker” for “anti-social behaviour” in the CBD.
Police Minister Joe Szakacs said the extension of the DPP would “go a long way to ensuring SAPOL can continue to respond to and disrupt antisocial behaviour and criminal acts”.
“I thank the Attorney-General for his careful consideration and approval of this request and I am confident it will help to ensure our city remains a bright and vibrant place to work and visit,” Minister Szakacs said.
“The targeted response in the CBD is not about pushing the problem away, but about ensuring we have appropriate support services and agencies in place to identify and manage issues of safety and minimising any risk to citygoers of all kinds.”
