Police Confirm ‘High-Visibility’ Sniffer Dog Operations For Sydney Festivals

27 February 2015 | 11:53 am | Staff Writer

If you're going to Future or Soundwave this weekend...

New South Wales Police have confirmed that they will be launching prominent operations at this weekend’s Future Music and Soundwave festivals.

With sniffer dog operations and arrests a big talking point of the industry, police have moved to stress that they will not be tolerating the “unfortunate few” who bring illicit substances into these events. It comes as drug and alcohol clinician, and rock veteran, Geoff Corbett called for sniffer dogs to be removed from festival operations.

"Both uniformed and plain clothes police will be in attendance, in addition to drug detection dogs and other specialist units."

The Future Music Festival’s first Australian leg will kick off at Randwick Racecourse tomorrow (Saturday 28 February), as will the final weekend and Sydney leg of the two-day Soundwave Festival at Olympic Park.

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“Overall we’re very pleased with the behaviour of spectators at [Future Music], however unfortunately there are some who choose to do the wrong thing,” said Police Superintendent Gavin Dengate.

“Both uniformed and plain clothes police will be in attendance, in addition to drug detection dogs and other specialist units who will be particularly focused on those people.

“We’ll be patrolling in and around the racecourse to ensure the safety of festival goers as well as the neighbouring community.”

Soundwave’s operation will be similar, with Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli saying, “We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and those who choose to do the wrong thing can expect to be caught and dealt with accordingly.

“I also want to remind revellers that recreational drugs are not only illegal, but they can also be very harmful to your health, you simply do not know what you’re putting inside your body.”

In opposition to sniffer dog operations Corbett told theMusic.com.au recently, “It’s just asking for trouble. What really are they looking to prevent? If you’re looking to prevent mortality and morbidity amongst festival goers then it hasn’t really been that effective – I’d be more concerned about people pre-loading before going to a festival than I would be about busting someone with a couple of pills.”

Police say that anyone trying to bring alcohol or drugs into the venue “can expect to be intercepted by police”. This flies in the face of marketing messages from Aussie start-up company Fred Flask, who are encouraging punters to smuggle alcohol into events as a response to high beverage prices.

Fred Flask CEO Jake McKeon told theMusic.com.au, “The reason for Fred Flasks wasn’t exclusively about overpriced drinks, it was the lack of alternatives – or safe alternatives.

“Illicit drugs are cheaper and pre-drinking yourself drunk isn’t a great idea for a ten-hour festival. When you think about the price of water at festivals, we think water filled Fred Flasks provide value for the punter there too.”

Assistant Commissioner Mennilli added, “I also want to reiterate that the Sydney Olympic Park precinct is an alcohol-free zone and it’s an offence to be in possession of open containers of alcohol on Sydney Trains property.

“Officers from the Police Transport Command will be patrolling trains, stations and transport hubs so anyone planning to have a few drinks on the way to the festival can expect to have it confiscated. Soundwave is not a BYO event but there are bars available so remember to bring valid identification.”

Superintendent Dengate mirrored those comments in regards to Future Music Festival.