35 patrons newly banned on first weekend of Queensland’s compulsory ID scanners

The first night under Queensland’s compulsory ID scanners at Safe Night Precincts (SNPs) venues picked up seven banned patrons, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath reported.

Four were in Surfers, two in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and one in Rockhampton.

The seven had faced bans earlier because of violence or drug trafficking.

A trial of the technology the weekend before had picked up 22.

“That means on the first night of the new system, the message has got through to people on banning orders loud and clear,” D’Ath told ABC Radio.

“It is early days but these are very satisfying figures to hear after just one night of ID scanners officially operating.

“If this system only prevented one family from dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy this morning, it is already worth it.”

Almost 90,000 IDs were checked at 180 venues in 15 SNPs. 35 new bans were imposed on patrons.

As of July 1, any venue operating after midnight had to scan all patrons entering from 10pm. Any breach would see a fine each of $1219.

Technology linked to a central state database allows information to be shared by venues where a patron thrown out of one club could not re-enter another.

There were some glitches. IDs from other countries, including New Zealand, Canada and the US wouldn’t scan because of different date formats.

In Rockhampton, visiting US service personnel had to provide their passports, which were then manually entered.

“That’s something that the operators are aware of and looking to rectify very quickly,” the Attorney-General said,

There were also longer-than-usual queues outside smaller clubs as sole security members were overwhelmed with the extra work.

Venues with outside toilets too faced problems as those answering the call of nature had to be ID’d again as they re-entered.

But these were dismissed as “teething problems” by the Government and the police.

Physical assaults in the precincts were down to three, with no sex assaults and 50 disorders arrests.

“The outcomes were just exceptional,”a Queensland Police spokesperson commented.

Venue owners outside the 15 SNPs also agree that the new system is working.

Now they want to be accorded SNP status and be linked up to the database, in preparation for troublemakers thrownoutof other precincts heading to their venues.

Tony Cannon of the Coolangatta Liquor Accord, which represents 22 venues, says it earlier applied to the State Government.

But it has been told to wait for a review of the results by the Government, due out late 2018.

“A few years ago, a number of Coolangatta premises installed the scanners and found they had a profound impact on the behaviour of their customers,” says Cannon.

Image via Courier Mail.