![Oxley Police District Acting Superintendent James Parsons on Monday morning after the festival wrapped up. Picture by Peter Hardin Oxley Police District Acting Superintendent James Parsons on Monday morning after the festival wrapped up. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/afalkenmire/3e342370-85cd-444b-9251-87d2d43650bf.jpg/r189_0_5367_2866_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
POLICE have charged 33 people, caught about 500 misbehaving drivers and carried out more than 100 inspections at pubs and clubs during the country music festival operation.
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Oxley Acting Superintendent James Parsons said officers were pleased with crowd behaviour across the 10 days.
"In spite of the countless hours that our officers have spent patrolling the streets, only a small number of offences have been acted on by the police," he said.
The operation saw several specialist units and officers from across the state back up local police as more than 30,000 people-a-day passed through the country music capital's CBD.
"The mission of the operation has been to provide a safe environment, and ensure the safety and security of festivalgoers, including the artists, venue operators, volunteers and of course the country music fans themselves," Acting Superintendent Parsons said.
"Generally police have been very pleased with the behaviour during the operation, it's been quite positive for us to see festivalgoers out enjoying themselves whilst being respectful to one another, and it really promotes Tamworth Country Music Festival as a family-friendly event."
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Police arrested 33 people between January 13 and 22 and levelled various charges including for property theft, police pursuit, drug possession and assault.
"With the number of people in town compared to the number of incidents we've had I think we're doing something very right," Acting Superintendent Parsons said.
"I think it's been quite a remarkable country music festival."
He said there has always been a strong focus on alcohol-related crime but there was nothing alarming or concerning about this year's event.
The highway patrol operation didn't wrap up until Monday, but he told media officers had issued 500 traffic infringement notices and cautions.
"Concerningly, a large percentage of those actually related to speeding and that's a big issue for us and something we're concerned about in terms of public safety," he said.
"Highway patrol will be out on the road and addressing any emerging trends in driver behaviour towards speeding."
Double demerits for the January 26 public holiday come into force from midnight on Tuesday.
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