Police campaign highlights impact of alcohol-related disorder

Police chiefs have launched a week-long campaign highlighting the realities faced by those dealing with drunkenness and alcohol-related incidents.

The national initiative follows the vow from Devon and Cornwall's Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Hogg to do more to tackle the problems of alcohol-related disorder, which is costing the region more than £300m.

The UK police chiefs' In Focus: Alcohol Harm initiative will see forces out on the streets with mobile custody suites and medical triage facilities to deal with the drunk and disorderly.

Neighbourhood policing teams, special constables, police cadets and volunteers such as street pastors will be deployed in drinking hotspots.

Police will be addressing new students at fresher’s weeks on staying safe and providing awareness training on vulnerability with security and bar staff.

There will be age ID checks, drug swabbing and drink-drive operations. Licensing teams are working with partners conducting test purchasing operations for shops and bars and visiting problem venues.

Forces will also be tweeting their day to day activities tackling alcohol harm in the communities they serve.

The campaign, launched to coincide with college and university freshers’ season, will have national policing lead on alcohol harm Chief Constable Adrian Lee, taking to Twitter to answer questions about policing and alcohol.

He said: “Police are all too often having to care for people who have clearly failed to take care of themselves. These people need to grow up and take responsibility. Drinking so much that you can’t think clearly makes you vulnerable and more likely to become a victim of crime, be injured or be involved in violence.

“We’re not here to clean you up and drop you home or mediate drunken arguments. We’d prefer our officers to be in their communities fighting crime rather than being pulled off their beats into town centres every weekend.”

Drink-fuelled anti-social behaviour in our pubs, clubs and on our streets is just part of the problem. Nearly 50 per cent of all violent crime is alcohol related. Offenders are thought to be under the influence of alcohol in nearly half of all incidents of domestic abuse and alcohol plays a part in 25 to 33 per cent of known child abuse cases. Excessive drinking clearly increases your likelihood of committing a crime or becoming a victim.

Chief Constable Lee added: “The harm that alcohol can do in our communities and the impact it has on policing is sometimes unrecognised or ignored. It shouldn’t be.

“Alcohol harm is a social issue that we all have a stake in solving. There is more to do working with government and the alcohol industry but above all, personal responsibility is key.

“Don’t be a drain on police time because you’ve had too much to drink. Take responsibility for yourself.

“The police service is realistic that it has to make budget reductions but the impact of excessive drinking is an example of the real operational challenges we face.

“We need to put officers on the streets to keep people safe and prevent crimes from occurring as well as responding when they do. But the result of that decision is that these are police officers who are not doing all the other things that the government and public want them to prioritise.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has also floated the idea of US-style, privately run 'drunk tanks'. Chief Constable Lee told the BBC:

"Why don't we take them to a drunk cell owned by a commercial company and get the commercial company to look after them during the night until they are sober?

"When that is over, we will issue them with a fixed penalty and the company will be able to charge them for their care, which would be at quite significant cost and that might be a significant deterrent."

But the Police Federation of England and Wales has cautioned against this approach. Its vice-chair Steve White, quoted on the BBC website, said:

"This proposal throws up far more questions than answers, particularly with regards to accountability.

"Privately-operated drunk tanks are neither a viable nor long-term solution to binge drinking and merely represent a sticking plaster for the problem."

Diana Johnson MP, Labour's Shadow Crime and Security Minister, said:

"There needs to be concerted action from the government to tackle alcohol fuelled disorder, no one idea is enough.

"We will look at the proposals from ACPO closely as we should always be open to effective new ideas. There should, however, be caution about the role of the private sector after our recent experience with G4S and others, who would see this as another money-making opportunity.

"Drunk Tanks though could and should only be one small aspect of any proper alcohol strategy, which would need to start with education in schools right through to licensing enforcement powers. The Government's alcohol policy is out of touch and in disarray - dropping their minimum alcohol pricing policy, rejecting drugs and alcohol education in schools, and going ahead with an ineffective 'Late Night Levy'.

"All this is on top of cuts to frontline policing that they promised would never happen and weakening of anti-social behaviour powers. It is this which is forcing the police to consider anything as they seek to draw back under these pressures.

"It should be what works that drives tackling alcohol fuelled disorder not resource constraints and weaker powers."