Working with Police at Events: What You Need to Know

Private security and NSW Police have different roles, different powers, and different responsibilities. Understanding the relationship between them — and knowing when to involve police — is an important part of professional event security.

What Private Security Can and Cannot Do

Licensed security operatives in NSW have specific legal powers. They can:

• Refuse entry to any person without providing a reason (at a licensed premises or private event)
• Remove a person from a venue using reasonable force if they refuse to leave
• Detain a person they reasonably suspect has committed an indictable offence, until police arrive
• Search a person with their consent (or without consent in specific circumstances under licence conditions)

What security operatives cannot do:

• Arrest a person (except under the citizen's arrest provisions, which are narrow and rarely applicable)
• Use force beyond what is reasonable in the circumstances
• Detain a person indefinitely — if police are not called promptly, the detention becomes unlawful

Understanding these limits is essential. Security operatives who exceed their powers expose themselves, their employer, and the venue to significant legal liability.

When to Call Police

The decision to call police is one of the most important judgement calls in event security. Call too early and you create unnecessary escalation. Call too late and a manageable situation becomes a serious incident.

General principles:

Call police immediately if:

• A weapon is involved or suspected
• A serious assault has occurred or is occurring
• A person has been seriously injured
• There is a credible threat to the safety of multiple people
• A person is being detained and needs to be formally arrested

Consider calling police if:

• An incident cannot be resolved through de-escalation and the situation is deteriorating
• A person is refusing to leave after being asked multiple times
• There is a credible threat of violence
• An incident involves a minor

Do not call police for:

• Minor disputes that can be resolved through de-escalation
• Guests who are intoxicated but cooperative
• Routine crowd management issues

The security team lead makes the call. Venue management should be informed whenever police are called.

Pre-Event Liaison with Police

For large events, pre-event liaison with local police is best practice and sometimes a condition of approval. This involves:

• Notifying local police of the event, expected attendance, and any specific concerns
• Discussing the security plan and any areas where police support may be required
• Establishing a direct communication channel for the night of the event
• Agreeing on protocols for police attendance if required

Police are generally supportive of well-organised events with professional security. A good relationship with local police is an asset.

During the Event

If police attend during an event, the security team lead should:

• Meet police at the entry and brief them on the situation
• Provide any relevant information — CCTV footage, incident details, witness information
• Cooperate fully with any police investigation or action
• Ensure the security team does not interfere with police operations

The security team's role when police are present is to support, not to lead.

Documentation

Any incident involving police should be thoroughly documented — time, nature of the incident, actions taken by security, time police were called, police response, and outcome. This documentation is essential if a complaint or legal claim arises later.

Savage Security maintains detailed incident records on every job and provides full documentation to venue management and, where required, to police.