Australian police arrest over 1,600 “boozed-up idiots” in crime crackdown

Australian police have arrested more than 1,600 people in a two-day operation targeting alcohol-fueled violence and anti-social behavior.

Hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes officers were involved in the operation in the state of New South Wales alone, where 563 people have been charged with 830 offenses, according to police figures.

Police carried out tens of thousands of random breath tests and thousands of checks on licensed premises for potential license breaches as part of  "Operation Unite."

Among those arrested were two women who were drink-driving with unrestrained infants in their cars, ABC News reports. NSW police charged 12 people for assaulting police and 26 for resisting arrest.

Pat Gooley of the Police Association said cold weather over the weekend had not deterred "so many boozed-up idiots that thought it was all right to go out and cause trouble."

NSW police and Australian emergency service workers launched a joint campaign a year ago calling for tougher restrictions on alcohol sales, saying that "it’s time to tackle the epidemic of alcohol-related violence once and for all."

NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Owens said that the vast majority of those charged under Operation Unite had not been involved with the police before, but “will wake up this morning facing a criminal record and saying, 'What have I done?'"

He added that not enough people were getting the message about alcohol abuse: "They use alcohol as an excuse to do what they would not normally do if they were stone-cold sober."

NSW police say that of 2,855 assaults on police each year, 70 percent are alcohol-related. In 2009, there were 6,370 reported assaults on members of the public while in a licensed premises.