Please attribute to Tairawhiti Area Commander Inspector Sam Aberahama:
Police are generally pleased with behaviour at New Year’s Eve (NYE) celebrations across the country including at major events such as the Rhythm and Vines festival in Gisborne.
There were no significant issues or incidents reported to Police at any of the main New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Police presence in the main areas was focused on preventing harm and ensuring revellers stayed safe while enjoying themselves. Police largely dealt with minor disorder incidents, liquor ban breaches and intoxication. Arrests that were made were mostly related to alcohol and disorder incidents.
Large crowds at Rhythm and Vines were generally well behaved, with great cooperation between agencies and event organisers. This year, we saw some 15,000 people camp on the Rhythm and Vines grounds site and at the peak of the event on New Year's Eve we had up to 23,000 attendees.
An amount of drugs including cannabis, MDMA and utensils were seized by staff over the duration of the festival. This was a good result.
Over the duration of the festival, five people were arrested for assault or drug related incidents.
Overall we are really pleased with the crowd behaviour and the behaviour of those surrounding the event.
We had staff monitoring road user behaviour on the roads surrounding the event and we had minimal excess breath alcohol incidents and crashes.
We have a strong relationship with our partner emergency services and the festival organisers. That relationship overall helps create a safe environment for everyone so they can have fun with their friends while also staying safe.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre