Police association accuses Summernats of gross negligence after crowd dispersed across Canberra, stretching resources

About 6pm on Saturday, the internal cruise circuit at EPIC had to be shut down because people entered the roadway and refused security officers' directions to get off.

Police officers were asked to help disperse the crowd and vehicles, which ended up spreading across Canberra and leaving police resources stretched. A number of privately-contracted security guards left the venue.

Jochen Zeil, chairman of North Canberra Community Council, said his personal view of the event was it being "such a bloody pointless piece of fun people are having in a town that tries to become climate smart".

"It's like the Vatican hosting a porn conference," Mr Zeil said.

He said the council was aware "a lot of people in Watson and in Downer had been complaining about noise and crowd behaviour".

"It has been an ongoing issue at the council about where to voice concerns not only about crowd behaviour, but about the fact that the main attraction of Summernats for a lot of people is a pointless exercise," he said.

However, he said a positive was that behaviour had gradually improved over the years.

"They've come a long way from, 'Show us your tits'," he said.

David Perkins, who has been a Reid resident for 20 years, said while the event was "obviously an economic significance", it did not appear there were enough resources to manage mass gatherings across the city.

"If people can't behave and if the government can't provide basic security for us, then it should stop," Mr Perkins said.

He said the event should be contained within EPIC and not "let them out in their cars to roam around Canberra and hoon around at all hours of the night".

"At Lonsdale Street, not only were there pools of piss everywhere, but they've been doing their burnouts all down the road and around the rainbow roundabout," he said.

"I'm not one to generally advocate greater policing resources, but an event that involves cars, which can be lethal, alcohol and the excitement that's generated in large crowds and roaring engines mean those factors feed on each other," he said.

"I'm no expert on crowd control, I just live here and suffer the consequences."

Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana accused organisers of gross negligence that left police cleaning up "the mess of others".

"The organisers need to do much better when it comes to security and stop pushing their problems and poor management onto ACT Policing and the community," Mr Caruana said.

The association is calling on the ACT government to audit the event's security arrangements and to seek commitments from the organisers for future events.

"While managing the issues created by a number of Summernats participants and organisers, ACT Policing members also had to maintain their presence across the territory doing the job they are paid to do," Mr Caruana said.

"It's only by dumb luck that a life-or-death incident didn't occur during this time."

Event co-owner Andy Lopez, however, said they were well resourced and the security incident did not represent the overall success of the motor festival.

Mr Lopez said the incident was a risk they could not have and shutting it down was to de-escalate the situation.

"We were left with no choice. The closure is a safety procedure in our operational plan," he said.

Mr Lopez said they increased security "every day as the numbers ramped up" and would conduct a debrief with police and other authorities to improve the event in the future.

"We understand policed were frustrated they were then stretched," he said.

"We'll be listening to them ... both from a debrief and forward-planning perspective as we really value police support. There's always room for improvement."

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Mr Lopez said the incident was "behaviour we haven't seen at Summernats" and most attendees were respectful.

"We take it very seriously, but it certainly hasn't ruined the whole event ... It's like throwing a fantastic party and two idiots getting drunk and vomiting on the floor," he said.

"It was a small group of badly behaved people and it escalated with dumbos who just jumped on the bandwagon."

Mr Lopez disputed ACT Policing's statement that the incident left security staff understrength, saying "we were very well resourced".

"Operational decisions to de-escalate sometimes include security stepping away," he said.

"Patrons who go to our event or any other also have the social responsibility to observe and follow rules."

A government spokesperson said the antisocial behaviour reported by police on Saturday evening was disappointing.

"As is often the case in society, the poor behaviour of a minority detracts from the experience of the majority," the spokesperson said.

"Safety and security arrangements for the event are reviewed with Summernats organisers every year."

The 2023 edition drew a record crowd of 125,000 during its four days.

In an amazing result for the Canberra region, a locally built Porsche won the coveted grand champion trophy and an ACT driver was named overall driving champion.

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