Policing nightlife : the representation and transformation of security in Sydney's night-time economy

Abstract

Since colonial times, night-time leisure and drinking have been major and contradictory sources of official and legal concern in Sydney. This thesis focuses on the historical and social conditions, cultural meanings and regulatory controls that have shaped both public and private forms of policing in Sydney's night-time economy (NTE). In so doing, it reflects more broadly on changes in the nature of contemporary 'policing' and how aspects of neoliberalism and the ideal of the '24-hour city' have shaped policing, security and night-time leisure. This research also analyses the effectiveness of policies and regulations governing policing and private security in the NTE in the context of media, political and public debates about regulation, and the gendered and highly masculine aspects of much of this work. The primary empirical basis of this thesis is a study of nightlife comprising observational fieldwork and in-depth semi-structured interviews. This research focuses on four specific active nightlife sites in Sydney in order to provide detailed observations of nightlife and was conducted between 2008 and 2013. Interviews with a range of key informants give insights regarding the occupational cultures and the collective outlooks and concerns of both the policing and private security sectors. These interviews are dedicated to advancing a deeper understanding of subjective aspects and understandings of safety, security and regulation in the NTE. This thesis also considers data from historical accounts of early New South Wales (NSW), policy debates, media accounts, and officially sourced quantitative evidence. Throughout this thesis inner Sydney after dark is presented as a place of both real and imagined risk, a 'frontier' (Melbin 1978) where apparent freedom and transgression are closely linked, and where regulation of leisure and collective drinking has been diffused throughout an expanding network of state and private actors. Here, Sydney's contemporary NTE is understood as the product of an intersection of both local and global transformations, as policing comes to incorporate more and more 'private' personnel empowered to regulate 'public' drinking and nightlife. There are obvious contradictions in 'policing' an expanded NTE that is often linked to social disorder, but which also provides a significant source of income for the state economy and private sector interests. Government and political ambivalence regarding the role and value of alcohol and associated leisure is reflected in the development and adoption of strategies regarding the policing and regulation of nightlife. The frequent influence of the media has made the application of stable regulation more difficult, and it has also limited policing strategy. In this occupational domain, the role of both public and private policing bodies is ambiguous and in constant flux. Whereas private security meet some concerns regarding the disorder associated with a profitable NTE, a perceived lack of regulation and control of the industry can set off public alarm. At the same time, public police do not have the capacity to monitor all nightlife space and placate concern and fear of after-dark violence and incivility. Hence, NSW Police have resorted to a focus on high-visibility, 'problem-oriented' strategies, that may alienate nightlife revellers and other members of the local community rather than increase public confidence in their ability to effectively regulate problematic behaviour. There is also an underlying tension between the expression of traditional occupational masculinity among police and private security and the erosion of these identities by reform and regulation in Sydney's NTE. Nightlife policing and 'doorwork' are highly gendered and frequently shaped by the desire to project positive masculine imagery in group and public settings. Despite the shared experience of work shaped by the expansion and contradictions of the NTE, the relationship between public police and private security is left wanting in addressing disorder. This frequently dysfunctional relationship remains as a major challenge to the effective governance of the city after dark.

Date of Award	2013
Original language	English