Police party register goes national

A party register pioneered by Palmerston North police could soon be rolled out nationwide.

Acting Senior Sergeant Lance Kennedy introduced the register in October last year after a series of out-of-control youth parties in Palmerston North, including a Ferguson St party in which 150 young people threw bottles and screamed abuse at police.

The register records the location, time, number of people and type of drinks on offer at a party. Police also give party planners information about safe drinking and host responsibility.

About 50 parties have been registered in Palmerston North since the scheme's inception, with similar registers being set up in Napier, Hastings, Whangarei, Waitaki and Wanganui.

An email sent to Mr Kennedy by Inspector Morris Cheer, the police national community support manager, expressed interest in promoting the register nationally.

No plans have been confirmed but it was an indication the scheme had been noticed, Mr Kennedy said.

"It's quite a simple idea that's easy to implement but it provides an effective link between the community and police," he said.

Despite the scheme being implemented around the country, Mr Kennedy said its overall success was still being measured.

One of the register's unforeseen benefits was that some people decided to scale down or cancel their parties after seeking advice from police, he said.

"There was one [party] last week where some issues were identified around host responsibility.

"We went and saw them and talked to them. It turned out that these people didn't even go ahead. They got too worried ... they thought there might be too much damage."

But the intention was to provide education, not be scaremongers, he said.

"If we can help we will. It's not like we are going to come around and be bouncers."

Wanganui police only set up a party register last week, but eight information packs had already been sent out, Senior Sergeant Dave Kirby said.

Mass texting among young people often led to unexpected gatecrashers arriving at Wanganui parties, he said.

"Once it becomes known that there is a cool party happening, then suddenly texts go out and what was 50 people can turn into 200 people quite quickly," Mr Kirby said.

"We had a big party at a rural hall about 15 minutes out of Wanganui [at Okoia]. There were a large number of youths and it got a bit out of control."

Registering a party did not give partygoers carte blanche to do anything they wanted. "We don't want to scare people from registering parties with us, but just by notifying us doesn't legitimise your party,"Mr Kirby said.

The register has had a phenomenal response in Napier where 31 parties have been registered since October 23, Sergeant Nigel Formosa said.

On two occasions Napier police had been able to stop incidents at registered parties before they got out of hand, he said.

"We've been in the area when they've called us for assistance and we've gone right there."

Police had collaborated with RoadSafe HB and Students Against Drink Driving, who create the registration packs and provide prize draws for well-behaved parties.

Hastings Sergeant Mike Stevenson said the register was an innovative way to fight the age-old problem of youth drinking.

"Twenty years ago there were parties that were getting out of hand.

"We've found that none of the parties that registered have had a need for assistance from us."

Neighbourhood Support national manager Roger Eynon was aware of party registers being used both formally and informally around the country.

- © Fairfax NZ News