Some Courtenay Place bar owners accuse Wellington police of intimidating patrons and staff

By Jemima Huston

Wellington police are being accused of intimidating bar patrons and staff in Courtenay Place and escalating tensions in the capital’s party central.

Police and paramedics are targeting the area on Friday and Saturday nights to try to ensure revellers are kept safe and volatile situations are nipped in the bud.

But many punters argue it is having the opposite effect.

At 11pm on Saturday night Courtenay Place is pumping – large crowds of people fill the footpaths, venues are packed and loud music plays.

Police and paramedics in uniform with yellow high-vis vests stand in groups along the street.

Bar owner Jose Ubiaga is okay with that – but he said patrons did not feel safe when they came inside and tensions quickly rose.

“When they come in with a group of 10 to 12 policemen, the customers don’t understand what’s going on.

“They just think, ‘Wow, what’s going on here? Something bad [has] happened.’ Or people start walking in and they see all the cops around and they just walk out. It’s quite intimidating.”

Wellington police are being accused of intimidating bar patrons.
Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston

Wellington police are being accused of intimidating bar patrons.

Ubiaga said he understood police had to enter venues to check for intoxicated patrons.

But the way they were engaging with him and his staff made them feel panicked and threatened, he said.

“They just walk in, they just start asking questions, and they just start making their presence felt.

“They treat us like they’re coming to get us and they’re trying to find reasons to shut us down.

“There’s no collaboration, there’s no working together, there’s no ‘we’re on the same side’.”

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau recognised police could be intimidating for bar staff and marginalised groups spending time on Courtenay Place.

“Keeping it to much smaller patrols until 3am consistently throughout the area is totally acceptable and that’s what I’ve seen when I’ve been on the street.

“But I can absolutely see why larger groups would be intimidating.”

The mayor wanted to hear from bar owners who were not happy with police presence.

It was absolutely necessary for the council to work collaboratively with owners and police to ensure Wellington’s bar scene was a safe space for punters and staff, she said.

“We’re recruiting for a city manager role who will be the city council liaison for all of our business owners along Courtenay Place.

“To get exactly that sort of feedback as well and ensure that we’re feeding into the Pōneke Promise programme.”

Courtenay Place is usually busy on Friday and Saturday nights with large crowds of people on the footpaths and packed venues.
Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston

Revellers on Courtenay Place were uncertain whether police were making the area safer.

“I feel like the police presence, there’s so many around but they do nothing. We go to the police and say something terrible has happened and they go ‘that’s not my problem to sort out’. Well then what is your job?” one person said.

“Between midnight to 1am it gets quite intense. That’s when the police and the ambos come out,” another said.

“It just makes you more alert because obviously they’re there for a reason,” a woman said.

Trinity Group managing director Jeremy Smith, who owns multiple bars on the street, agreed there was a problem when bars were swamped with police officers.

“Absolutely they can be intimidating for both staff and patrons.

“When you’re out trying to relax and have a good time, it’s never a great look to have the venue filled with police. Especially some of those smaller Courtenay Place venues.”

But the police and bar owners needed to work together to keep party goers safe, he said.

“As long as police are focusing on keeping the street safe, we’ll do our job in terms of making sure our patrons behave themselves in our venues, that they’re well looked after and can do exactly what they want to do – go out, relax and have a good time.”

Jose Ubiaga also wants better collaboration and communication between entities.

“We want Courtenay Place to be safe. We want it to be a good environment. The nightlife in Wellington should be asset.”

Police declined an interview but said their focus and intention was centred solely around community safety.

Police would be visiting bars and speaking with people, and would continue to be highly visible in Wellington CBD.