19/03/2012
Hotel's clean behaviour earns police recognition
“POLICE chief nominates publican for award” - for Manly police local area commander Supt Dave Darcy, it’s something he never thought he’d ever hear of, let alone do.
“There is a saying, ‘as rare as hens’ teeth,” Supt Darcy told the Daily.
“For a commander of 30 years experience to nominate a licensee for a community service award, you won’t see that too often. I would suggest it’s never happened.”
Yet such has been the drop in alcohol-related violence at the Steyne Hotel in recent years, Supt Darcy thought it appropriate.
From three assaults on a weekend to the pub dropping down the “blacklist” of violent venues, the hotel has changed its culture.
Supt Darcy congratulated licensee Gerard Dore at the Rotary Club of Manly Sunrise’s Community Service Awards last week.
He recalled Mr Dore’s vow to “clean the place up” after John Singleton’s group bought the venue in 2010.
“Now I’d heard that 100 times before from people like Gerard,” Supt Darcy said. “But from day one, he did what he said he’d do.”
Mr Dore realised the Steyne was the last venue to crack down on violence in the wider push to improve Manly’s image.
“You had to take the hotel back to what it was originally for: sport, punting, saloon bar and dining. Before, they had one night where they were busy,” he said.
Community fundraisers were also a part in making the Steyne “friendly” again, according to Mr Dore, though he said “incidents” would still happen.
- STEYNE Hotel licensee Gerard Dore said part of the venue’s success in reducing violence was changing the culture of how it dealt with patrons.
``We may ask 200 people to leave or have their last drinks on a night, but instead of `listen, you’ve had enough, go’; we found if you’re reasonably respectful to people, they know when they’ve had enough. It’s about communication.’‘
LINK:
http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/hotels-clean-behaviour-earns-police-recognition/