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Anger at extra police powers for Papal tour AAP NEW South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says extra police powers for World Youth Day are neccessary for security at outdoor public events. Mr Scipione said the changes, which have drawn fire from the NSW Bar Association and civil libertarians, were merely an extension of existing powers for officers patrolling sporting facilities. "What's happened here is we are using venues that are not normally used for sporting or entertainment-type events," Mr Scipione said of the July 15-20 World Youth Day events, which include the visit of the Pope. "If we were running one of these events in a normal sporting arena, the powers that we would need onsite would already be there. "So these are the powers to stop people taking things in ... like a paint bomb, all of those sort of things that ... certainly you couldn't take to the football on Saturday." The changes will allow police to direct people to stop any activity which "causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day event" or face a possible $5500 fine. It was earlier reported the powers included the ability to arrest participants and conduct partial strip searches. The powers apply to more than 40 city locations, including Darling Harbour, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and Randwick Racecourse over the World Youth Day period. Mr Scipione denied the powers would be used to clamp down on public protests.
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