SNOS – Changes to Police Powers

The passing of the Safe Night Out Legislation Amendment Act 2014 has amended the provisions of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act (PPRA) and the Summary Offences Act (SOA).

The amendments to the law give greater powers to police officers and increase the maximum penalties for nuisance type offences.

Increased Police Powers

Some of the new powers given to Police as part of the amendments include:
• The power to issue a banning notice immediately to a person who is behaving in a disorderly or violent way and who is a risk to good order or the safety and welfare of others. A banning notice is a written notice prohibiting a person from attending specified licensed premises or a Safe Night precinct.

The banning order may be for a period of up to 3 months. Persons breaching a banning notice may be penalised up to $6,600.00.

• The power to distribute the information contained in banning notices including photos of the banned person to ID scanners at licensed venues.
• Allowing police to require a specimen of breath, saliva, urine or blood of a person if the person is reasonably suspected of being intoxicated and is committing or,
has within the preceding 3 hours, committed an assault offence in a public place.

Increases to Maximum Penalties

Some nuisance type offences have been amended to provide for an increase to the maximum penalty that can be imposed upon a person.

Contravening a Direction or Requirement of a police officer – The maximum penalty for an offence of contravening a direction or requirement from a police officer will increase from 40 penalty units ($4,400.00) to 60 penalty units ($6,600.00) in circumstances where an offence is committed either within or in the vicinity of licensed premises or at a public place located in a Safe Night Precinct.

Public Nuisance – The maximum penalty for an offence of public nuisance will increase from 10 penalty units ($110.00) or 6 months imprisonment to 25 penalty units ($2,750.00) or 6 months imprisonment.

Assault/Obstruct Police – The maximum penalty for an offence of assaulting or obstructing police will increase from 40 penalty units ($4,400.00) or 6 months imprisonment to 60 penalty units ($6,600.00) or 12 months imprisonment if the offence occurs within licensed premises or in the vicinity of licensed premises.

Urinating in Public – The maximum penalty for an offence of urinating in public will increase from 2 penalty units ($220.00) to 4 penalty units ($440.00).

Introduction of Sober Safe Centres

The amendments also provide for the introduction of facilities known as Sober Safe Centres which are proposed to be located within Safe Night Precincts.

Through the changes made to the PPRA, a police officer will have the power to choose, in certain circumstances, to take an intoxicated person to a facility known as a Sober Safe Centre rather than charge them with an offence.

The circumstances in which a police officer may choose to take an intoxicated person to a Sober Safe Centre are where the police reasonably suspects the intoxicated person is behaving in a way that:

1. Constitutes a nuisance type offence (such as public nuisance, disobeying a move-on direction from police or urinating in public); or
2. Poses a risk of physical harm to the person or another person. Currently intoxicated persons charged with such offences can find themselves being arrested and detained in a police watch house and then required to appear before the Magistrates Court on a later date.

The amendments provide that where a police officer takes an intoxicated person to a Sober Safe Centre, the intoxicated person can be detained at the Sober Safe Centre for a maximum period of 8 hours.

During this period, the intoxicated person will be assessed by a health care professional who will report on the condition of the intoxicated person to the manager of the Sober Safe Centre.

The manager of the Sober Safe Centre will then determine whether the person should be released at some point before the 8 hour period.

Although a person detained at a Sober Safe Centre will not have to appear in Court, they will have to pay a cost recovery charge. For a person’s first admission to the Sober Safe Centre, the person liable to pay a cost recovery charge of 2 penalty units ($220.00). For each subsequent occasion that an intoxicated person is admitted to the Sober Safe Centre, an additional $110.00 multiplied by the number of subsequent admissions is charged up to a maximum of $880.00.

The first Sober Safe Centre will be trialled in the Brisbane CBD for a 12 month period. If the facility proves to be effective in protecting intoxicated people and the broader community it is expected that Sober Safe Centres will be opened in other Safe Night Precincts throughout Queensland including in the Mackay and Airlie Beach area.