ACT Policing says it was largely pleased with crowd behaviour on New Year’s Eve, with numbers down on previous years in light of social distancing restrictions.

However, 2021 is off to a bad start for several Canberrans.

Across the evening, 17 people were taken into protective custody as a result of intoxication, including three juveniles.

One person was charged with assaulting police, one with possess knife in a public place, one for unlicensed driving, and another for graffiti offences.

Police also conducted over 650 Roadside Breath Tests, with one person detected drink driving. That driver – a p-plater – was served with an immediate suspension notice. One person was also arrested for drug driving.

While police were kept busy throughout the evening, Superintendent Corey Heldon was largely please with crowd behaviour.

“Police had a presence in all town centres across Canberra, and while we did have some issues to deal with, on the whole the crowds were well behaved.” Superintendent Heldon said.

“We did notice quite a reduction in crowd numbers compared to previous years, which is encouraging that Canberrans appeared to heed the advice to celebrate the New Year in a COVID-safe way.

“Police were also conducting checks to ensure venues were complying with social distancing requirements, and I’m pleased that no venues were found to be in breach of these restrictions.

“I’d also like to remind drivers that double demerits will remain in place until 11.59pm Sunday, 3 January 2021.”