Street drinking

Wednesday night I watched another cabbie dropping off 3 guys outside the Leederville Hotel. All 3 of them were drinking and continued to do so after leaving the taxi. No police were around despite the fact Leederville is a hotspot on Wednesday nights and from 11pm onwards there would be a large police presence in the area to deal with the trouble that often occurs at closing time.

Before I drove off the guys walked right past the 6 or so crowd controllers standing at the front of the hotel. We all know they are responsible for what occurs inside the premises and they certainly wouldn’t allow someone to walk out of the hotel with a drink yet they did nothing.

I drove off intending to find a police officer and pass on what I’d seen. Firstly because drinking isn’t allowed in taxis and I go to great lengths to ensure no one does in my cab firstly because I don’t want any hassles with the police/DPI and secondly because the cab is kept clean and we often get compliments on it smelling fresh and being well presented and I intend on keeping it that way. Having cloth seats and carpet spilt alcohol tends to stink the car out and cleaning it up is time consuming and annoying which makes banning it the by far easier option.

The other reason I wanted to report it is I’ve noticed an increasing incidence of people not only drinking before they go out, then wanting a roadie or 2 for the cab ride in but also taking up to six beers/pre mixes to drink once they get out of the taxi before going into the club/s.

It also illustrates the need for more police on the beat. Recently I have been impressed with the number of police in Northbridge on the weekend making their presence felt and making people feel safer heading out for the night but in contrast to that is the almost total lack of police I’ve noticed during the week. Sure the crowd numbers are significantly down during the week but the possibility for trouble to flare up is still there.