| AUCKLAND: Police Senior Sargent Jack Wickers was disappointed by the Twenty-eight arrests at the Big Day Out claiming they were nowhere near enough to keep his officers occupied during the event. Police would have preferred to make many more arrests but were limited in their ability to do so by the good behaviour of the crowd and the responsible distribution of alcohol throughout the day.
"The standard of moshing and crowd-surfing was also not up to scratch," Snr Sgt Wickers said. "We expected at least 80 to 100 arrests arising out of the Shihad and System of a Down slots alone. Even cutting off the System set after only 3 songs was not enough to enrage the crowd and get a riot going." Wickers maintained he would have difficulty retaining police volunteers for next year's gig with out offering the incentive of "at least 50-60 heads to break". Festival organiser Harold G Jones was also disappointed in the crowd's behaviour and said the Auckland spot on the annual festival programme was in grave danger. Mr Jones took issue with the prevalence of marijuana smuggled in by revellers. "You could see it and smell it everywhere, which was ok I guess, but surely everyone knows that acid is a lot easier to get in and provides a full on trippy experience for hours more man."  More crowd surfing and other such shenanigans are needed to ensure enough Police volunteer for future Big Day Outs. |
| Police, organisers critical of Big Day Out |
Friday, 01 February 2002 12:00
