Police say they're closing in on the person who fatally king-hit 18-year-old Thomas Kelly on his first night out in Sydney's Kings Cross.
Acting Commissioner Catherine Burn has issued a plea for revellers to drink responsibly in the notorious nightclub district, saying detectives poring over CCTV footage would surely catch the man who killed Mr Kelly in an unprovoked street attack.
"That investigation is going very well, a number of people have been interviewed," she told reporters in Sydney today.
"CCTV footage is currently being reviewed and has been reviewed, and we are confident of a result."
Thomas Kelly died after being punched in the face by a stranger on Saturday night as he walked along Victoria Street in Kings Cross with his new girlfriend.
His family, from the NSW Southern Highlands town of Bowral, decided on Monday to switch off his life support.
Ms Burns said she hoped the offender would turn himself in.
"However, if that person doesn't come forward, we will come knocking," she said.
As authorities argue over the best way to end violence in party hotspots, Ms Burn said a commitment from revellers not to drink excessively and to take responsibility for their own actions could do more to prevent violence than extra police on Sydney streets.
"We cannot stop this from happening every single time, but if we took alcohol out of the equation we would probably not be having this conversation," she said.
AHA NSW chief executive Paul Nicolaou wants the introduction of tougher penalties for drug and alcohol offences, similar to those introduced in New York by former mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"He implemented a zero tolerance on criminal behaviour in the street and therefore you've seen a drop in antisocial behaviour occurring right across the board in New York," Mr Nicolaou told reporters in Kings Cross.
However, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, a left-leaning independent, has disagreed, arguing more police are needed on Sydney's city streets where 20,000 people gather on weekend nights.
"I don't think it's an issue of tougher penalties. I think it's an issue of resources," Ms Moore said.
Ms Moore spoke with NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell yesterday and discussed her plan for a summer trial of New Year's Eve-style transport and policing arrangements for Friday and Saturday nights, and a one-way late-night shuttle train service from Kings Cross to Town Hall.
Ms Burn said the council's transport proposals risked spreading the violence.
"If you have intoxicated people ... if you put them on a train, you're just moving the problem," she said.
Additional police would be stationed on Sydney streets over the coming weekend, though there would not necessarily be more general-duties officers on than the previous weekend.
"We also have our alcohol licence enforcement command, we have our police transport command will be working, and we have other sections that supplement those resources," Ms Burn said.
