POLICE are encouraging anyone who witnesses offensive behaviour within the community to report it.
It comes after officers apprehended a 35-year-old man at Town Beach on Saturday.
Around 12.30pm, police received reports of a man, believed to be intoxicated, acting in an offensive manner.
Officers made their way down the sand and rocks at the northern end of the beach, where the man could be seen swearing and acting aggressively.
After failing to comply with police directions, he was detained and taken to Port Macquarie Police Station, where he was issued with a criminal infringement notice for offensive behaviour.
Witnesses observed the man allegedly verbally abusing two men on the beach who were filming the many surfers in the water.
One told News Of The Area that the man had been visibly drinking what they assumed to be alcohol, and had been harassing the men for quite some time.
“I was watching the surf and could hear this guy who looked and sounded incredibly drunk talking to two blokes on the sand,” said Port Macquarie local Daniel*.
“The guys were really calm and chatted back to begin with, but then he started to get aggressive and was physically waving his arms about.
“The two guys eventually walked away.”
Then, as people lined the path to watch the bodyboarders in action, the man could be heard swearing and yelling in earshot of children sitting on the rocks.
He was seen throwing a bottle, which shattered on the sand.
“People were clearly a bit taken aback by his behaviour, especially with so many kids around.
“I had my daughters with me. They shouldn’t have had to be exposed to that kind of behaviour.”
Inspector Michael Aldridge, from the Mid North Coast Police District, said police act on all reports of offensive behaviour, regardless of the time or location.
“We encourage anyone witnessing people acting in an offensive or intimidating manner to contact police,” he said.
By Rikki WALLER
