Young, at risk and out of it

By MATT CALMAN - The Dominion Post

Every weekend, young women stagger home drunk and alone from Wellington bars. Police say they are vulnerable to sexual assault and robbery. The Dominion Post ventures on to the front line on a Saturday night.

A young woman huddles with friends in Manners St. Her fire-engine-red platform shoes and short red dress form a thin barrier against the cold as she wraps her arms tightly around her body. A group of young girls in short skin-tight dresses perch atop shiny stilettos and strut out of bars as if basking in the Bangkok heat.

But it is only about five degrees celsius and even with long-john underwear under your jeans, you feel a steely chill.

In Courtenay Place, a young man pushes his face through an open van window and shouts abuse in the direction of Sergeant Sam Gilpin, and constables Luke Dunstan and Martin MacDonald.

Unfortunately for him, the traffic light turns red. When the van comes to a stop the officers arrest him for disorderly behaviour.

It's only 11pm and there have already been several breaches of the liquor ban. First-time offenders are given warnings and made to tip their alcohol into the gutter.

Police are called to an alley off Manners St where a man has been seen smashing a car's windows with a milk crate.

The man, perhaps in his early 20s, can hardly stand and argues with police as they handcuff his hands behind his back.

He has soiled himself, his hand is bleeding from a glass cut and he half-sobs "I just want to go home" as he lurches clumsily into the police van.

When an officer opens the van doors later an indescribable stench drifts out. Mr Gilpin says that, after nine years on the force, "I don't even notice it".

He says a person in that condition is particularly vulnerable to robbery and assault.

"It's not only the women, it's the guys as well. He could potentially be a victim. We want people to take responsibility for themselves and watch out for each other so they're not going overboard."

Just after midnight the officers stop to help their first grossly drunk young woman.

An hour earlier, the teenager left her student hostel in Boulcott St under her own steam but she is now too drunk to stand and tells police she has had 10 vodkas.

Her friend says they met her in town and don't know how she got so drunk.

"We're just trying to take her back to our hostel. She's not safe out here. She's too drunk to realise what's happening."

Mr Gilpin sits the drunk teen on the floor of the police van; her legs hang limply out of the doorway. She slumps forward and vomits mostly in the gutter but also on to his hand.

"I won't spew. Just take me home," she slurs.

Wellington City Council-funded Walkwise officers are also out in force.

Seeing girls too drunk to stand - some as young as 13 - is common and they do not always appreciate help, one says.

"You've got to watch out for them but half the time they don't want you around. They're 16 and they're bulletproof."

In Mt Victoria, bottles are being hurled into Austin St from a rowdy student party.

When police arrive, six officers form a single-file line and march into the flat to evict about 25 people. No one is arrested but the party is over.

Inside there are three people who have passed out, including a girl draped across a couch. "She had practically no clothes on, was lying on the couch in her own spew with guys all around her," Mr Gilpin says.

By 2.45am Courtenay Place is swarming with happy people and long queues are forming at fast- food restaurants. Most drink responsibly.

But police are just starting to see the worst of the night, with fights more likely to break out as bars close.

Mr Gilpin says the vomiting teen typifies how excessive alcohol affects judgment.

"She said she wanted to go home, have a sleep and then go back to the bars later on. That's what we deal with."

LAST DRINK CALL

Police are considering extending a survey that analyses where those arrested last had a drink to include the victims of sexual assault and other crimes.

The last-drink question is asked when a person is arrested and is used to gather data and target bars that are serving alcohol to drunk people.

Police operations commander Inspector Simon Perry says that, 15 years ago, statistics showed about 70 per cent of people were drinking in bars, with the rest drinking at home.

But with the awareness of drink-driving and availability of alcohol at supermarkets, those figures have changed. Last year's numbers show 49 per cent of arrested people were drinking at home, with 18 per cent at licensed premises and another 18 per cent in public places.

Alcohol is a factor in about 60 per cent of arrests and Mr Perry says young people buying alcohol from off-licences and drinking in public is a massive concern.

The liquor ban in the city centre lets police arrest youths drinking in public places - getting some girls who could become victims of sexual assaults off the street.

"Men who come in and prey on women and pick fights are likely to drink on the street. Those are the people we target."