premise: The legislation gives police powers to "lock down" suburbs, close pubs, enforce alcohol bans and confiscate cars.
  The overnight display of force came ahead of an expected major clampdown at the weekend, when police will treble their numbers to up to 1,500 officers at troubled beaches and suburbs.
  Prime Minister John Howard, writing in Australia's Daily Telegraph Friday, said the violence was a result of people who had "no regard for the law" and those who had "no respect for their fellow Australians".
  "It is clear the best way to deal with the challenge is for everyone to calm down," wrote Howard, who has dismissed suggestions that Australia is a racist society.
  "The most immediate -- and best -- solution is maintenance of law and order."
   What does the clampdown refer to?
hypothesis: police will treble their numbers to up to 1,500 officers