NSW cops eye drunk violence on Aust Day

NSW police will target alcohol-related violence on Australia Day, warning they won't tolerate "drunken buffoons".

Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch on Friday launched Operation Shoreline, which will see about 2500 police on duty across the state on Sunday.

They will focus on alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.

Mr Murdoch warned that police won't hold back on enforcing the law.

"We will not tolerate for one minute drunken buffoons who want to interfere with other people's ability to enjoy the day," he told reporters in Sydney.

"It will not be on."

He said people had nothing to fear by coming to the city, insisting that it had "never been safer".

"Crime is down, alcohol-related assaults are down, personal violence offences are down," Mr Murdoch said.

"But what the reality is and what the perception is are clearly two different things."

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell earlier this week announced a raft of tough new measures to combat alcohol-fuelled violence after mounting public pressure to act.