Col Blanch says West Aussies ‘overwhelmingly’ well-behaved at Optus Stadium soccer video games | USAEMALL.com

WA’s top cop has revealed just over 100 people have been processed through Optus Stadium’s built-in police holding cells since 2018.

Commissioner Col Blanch told 6PR on Tuesday that a police station inside the stadium was still operational during major events.

“Since 2018, we’ve had just over 100 people put through the cells . . . that tells me (it’s) not a lot of people,” he said.

“That means West Australians are overwhelmingly well behaved even at the footy.”

Mr Blanch said the station was typically only staffed for major sport or entertainment events.

“You are probably going to get kicked out first, but if you kick off, then you are going into the cell, and then we’ll process you through,” he said.

“Why ruin your day and the day of others, you’re there with your family, you’re there with your friends, enjoy yourself, don’t end up in a police cell.”

Mr Blanch said having an in-house station — which has been operational for more than seven years — was essential to increase the “safety and security of our community”.

“Not surprisingly, there has been what we call the ‘crowded places initiative’ for years in the terrorism environment, knowing that we’ve seen large stadiums around the world, sadly, the location of terrorist attacks and other serious incidents.

“We always have a large police presence for large events here in WA to make sure our community is safe.

“There’s a lot of security there, but we do have this police station with cells, if we do have a serious incident or someone cannot just behave themselves.”