Police will target troublemakers at 2011 Australian Open

MELBOURNE - Melbourne Police have said they will target potential troublemakers wanting to attend the 2011 Australian Open even before they reach the venue.

In a pre-emptive strike, Victoria Police will, for the first time, focus on transport hubs outside Melbourne Park to crack down on unruly fans before they enter the tennis complex, which is expected to draw over 600,000 fans over the two-week tournament.

Superintendent Rod Wilson said a lot of planning had gone into making the tournament safe and it was better to manage unruly behaviour before any incident occurred.

“If you come to the event to be antisocial or do the wrong thing, your time at the tennis will be very short. One of the things we’re doing this year that we haven’t done in previous years is concentrate our policing efforts outside the tennis,” The Age quoted Wilson, as saying.

“Most people do travel to the tennis by using trams and trains, so we’ll be looking at groups there that we think might cause issues,” he added.

Superintendent Wilson said potential troublemakers would be spoken to and monitored when they arrived at the tennis.

“If they’ve come to the tennis like everyone else to have a good time then there will be no issue. If not, then they’ll be evicted,” he said. (ANI)