LEICESTERSHIRE CONSTABULARY ALCOHOL HARM REDUCTION STRATEGY Post Responsible Supt. Community Safety Bureau Effective Date April 2005 Last Reviewed By Date Last Reviewed Next Review Date April 2006 Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 has been considered with regard to this policy. Proportionality has been identified as the key to Human Rights compliance. This means striking a fair balance between the rights of the individual and those of the rest of the community. There must be a reasonable relationship between the aim to be achieved and the means used. Freedom of Information Act 2000 Freedom of Information issues have been considered with regard to this policy. Adherence with this policy will therefore ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2002 and internal Freedom of Information policies.
CONTENTS AIM THE CURRENT UK POSITION THE CURRENT LEICESTERSHIRE POSITION EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT ALCOHOL RELATED CRIME AND DISORDER SUPPLY AND INDUSTRY RESPONSIBILITY ACTION PLAN
ALCOHOL HARM REDUCTION STRATEGY 1. AIM The aim of the Leicestershire Constabulary s Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy is To reduce Alcohol Related Crime and Disorder This will be achieved through actions set in the drugs element of the Control Strategy, following the NIM model of Intelligence, Prevention and Enforcement. Partnership working is a key element in order to meet all four key areas of the National strategy. The four key areas are and will be covered in the Force Alcohol Strategy: 1. Better Education and Communication 2. Improving Health and Treatment Services 3. Combating Alcohol Related Crime and Disorder 4. Working with the Alcohol Industry We need to work together to ensure that the Police and Local Authorities enforce existing laws, treatment services can meet demand, and the public receives clear messages and information about the consequences of alcohol misuse and the drinks industry end irresponsible promotions and advertising. The strategy will rely on creating partnerships between the government, the drinks industry, health and police services and individuals and communities to tackle alcohol misuse. 2. THE CURRENT UK POSITION In March 2004, the Government introduced the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England. The report sets out the Government s strategy for tackling the harms and costs of alcohol misuse in England. The aim of the strategy is to prevent any further increase in alcohol-related harms in England. The report has identified that the annual cost of alcohol misuse includes: 1.2m violent incidents (around half of all violent crimes) 360,000 incidents of domestic violence (around a third) which are linked to alcohol misuse increased anti-social behaviour and fear of crime 61% of the population perceive alcoholrelated violence as worsening expenditure of 95m on specialist alcohol treatment over 30,000 hospital admissions for alcohol dependence syndrome up to 22,000 premature deaths per annum at peak times, up to 70% of all admissions to accident and emergency departments up to 1,000 suicides
up to 17m working days lost through alcohol related absence between 780,000 and 1.3m children affected by parental alcohol problems increased divorce marriages where there are alcohol problems are twice as likely to end in divorce 3. THE CURRENT LEICESTERSHIRE POSITION Local data on drink influenced crimes The Leicestershire Constabulary Annual Review 2003 shows drink-influenced crimes at 4381. 32% of the crimes took place on Central area, 20% of the crimes took place on the East area, 27% of the crimes took place on the West area and 21% of the crimes took place on the North area. Local drinking patterns and levels of alcohol consumption Women drinking more than 2 to 3 units a day, and men drinking more than 3-4 units a day are at increasing risk of damaging their health. The Living In Britain, General Household Survey 2002 showed that in the East Midlands Region the average weekly alcohol consumption was 18.4 units for men and 7.6 units for women (mean number of units). For men, this was above the national (GB) figure of 17.2 units but was the same nationally for women. For the East Midlands region, 41% of men stated that they had drunk more than 4 units and 18% of women stated that they had drunk more than 3 units on at least one day in the previous week. Nationally the percentages were 38% and 23% respectively. In addition, when asked if they had drunk more than 8 units for men /6 units for women on at least one day in the previous week 22% of the men and 8% of the women questioned answered yes. Nationally the figure for this was 21% for men and 10% for women. Nationally, the percentage of men drinking more than 21 units a week in 2002 was 27%, whilst the figure for women drinking more than 14 units a week was 17%. As a comparison with figures from 1988 the percentage of men had increased by 1% but for women there had been a 7% increase. The percentage of men drinking more than 50 units a week remained unchanged between 1988 and 2002 at 7%. The percentage of women drinking more than 35 units a week went up slightly from 2% to 3%. (nationally). The Office of National Statistics listed the following causes and numbers of deaths in 2002 where the underlying cause was linked to alcohol: Mental & behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol. 435 Acute intoxication. 95 Alcoholic liver disease 3617
Alcoholic fatty liver 134 Alcoholic hepatitis 108 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol: 10 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 119 Alcoholic gastritis 4 Alcoholic fibrosis and sclerosis of liver 3 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver 828 Alcoholic hepatic failure 453 Alcoholic liver disease- unspecified 2091 Hospitals 1 in 7 acute hospital admissions are alcohol related (Pirmohmed et al, 2000) 20% of general hospital beds are occupied by people with alcohol-related problems (Mullally, 2000) Impact of alcohol misuse on health services 20% of patients presenting to primary health care are likely to be excessive drinkers, which means on average each GP will see 364 excessive drinkers a year (Kaner et al, 1999). A & E Research suggests 40% of admissions rising to 70% at peak times are alcohol related (Strategy Unit, 2004). 4. EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION The strategy includes a series of measures aimed at achieving a long-term change in attitudes to irresponsible drinking and behaviour. For increasing numbers of people in England, getting drunk has become the definition of a good night out. Many of them take little personal responsibility for their behaviour in getting drunk in the first place or their subsequent actions when drunk. A first step in encouraging individuals to act responsibly involves making sure that they understand the potential risks of irresponsible drinking and alcohol misuse. However, raising awareness alone is not enough. Any successful harm reduction strategy will need to achieve a long-term change in attitudes to irresponsible drinking and behaviour. Most people obtain alcohol related information from five main sources: - public health information and government campaigns - information provided by the alcohol industry - education in schools and the workplace - advertising
Friends, families and the wider community may also provide further information. Despite all these sources of information, consumers are generally not well-enough equipped to take informed choices about their drinking behaviour: - Recognition of the Governments sensible drinking message is relatively high, with 80% of drinkers having heard of units. But this has little impact on behaviour as only 10% of drinkers check their consumption in units and just 25% know what unit is - while school programmes impart information there is little evidence that they are effective in changing behaviour - levels of awareness of alcohol-related problems in the workplace are variable - there are increased concerns at how some TV advertising and radio broadcastings may be condoning (if not encouraging) irresponsible drinking behaviour 5. IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT The strategy proposes a number of measures to improve early identification and treatment of alcohol problems. A successful alcohol treatment programme requires: - the identification and referral of people with alcohol problems - treatment tailored to differing individual needs and motivations, including support for families where appropriate - services that are effective in helping vulnerable and at-risk groups There are a number of problems with the existing identification, referral and treatment services: - alcohol problems are often not identified sufficiently early, leading to later financial and human costs - health service staff have low awareness of alcohol issues - There is little available information on demand for treatment, the provision of services to meet this demand, or for the current capacity of treatment services - The structure of alcohol treatment can vary widely, with no clear standards for, or pathways through treatment - Procedures for referring vulnerable people between alcohol treatment and other services are often unclear 6. ALCOHOL-RELATED CRIME AND DISORDER The strategy proposes a series of measures to address the problems of those town and city centres that are blighted by alcohol misuse at weekends.
Alcohol misuse is a major contributor to crime; disorder and anti-social behaviour, with alcohol related crime-costing society up to 7.3bn per annum. The most visible areas of concern for most people include: - Alcohol-related disorder and anti-social behaviour in towns and cities at night a highly visible part of the nighttime economy. These problems will be reduced by making greater use of existing legislation and penalties to combat anti-social behaviour e.g. making greater use of Fixed penalty notices, acceptable behaviour contracts and making more use of Community Support Officers. It will also require working with the alcohol industry to manage and deal with the consequences of town and city Centre drinking, by agreeing a new code of practice, joint funding of local initiatives and encouraging local authorities more actively to tackle problems where they occur. Local Authorities have a duty under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the implications of alcohol related crime. - Underage drinking. The Government will tackle under-age drinking by greater enforcement of existing laws not to sell alcohol to under 18s, improving the information about the dangers of alcohol misuse available to young people and encouraging provision of more alternative activities for young people. Less visible but equally significant concerns are: - Crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour often caused by repeat offenders. The Government will tackle this by further piloting of arrest-referral schemes and exploring the effectiveness of diversion schemes. - Domestic violence. The Government will seek better identification of alcohol problems and referral to alcohol services as part of existing measures on domestic violence. - Drink driving. Campaigns on drink driving appear to have worked well but there is evidence that drink-driving may be on the increase amongst some groups (young men). The Government is closely monitoring the trends to assess whether additional action is needed. 7. SUPPLY AND INDUSTRY RESPONSIBILITY The strategy will build on the good practice of some existing initiatives (such as the Manchester Citysafe Scheme) and involve the alcohol industry in new initiatives at both national level (drink producers) and at local level (retailers, pubs and clubs). Working with the industry is therefore at the heart of this strategy. The industry will combine a code of good practice with a financial contribution (e.g. it may fund projects aimed at providing alternative activities for young people, targeting information) to help tackle the harms caused by alcohol misuse. The scheme will be voluntary at first and will be overseen by a small independent board. It will show the industry s willingness to develop best practice and work with the Government.
PREVENTION Action plan following the NIM of Prevention, Intelligence and Enforcement ACTION Ensure campaigns are targeted at those most at risk such as binge drinkers To assist our partners to deliver alcohol education in schools Provide advice and support to employees via staff training and the Drugs and Medicine policy published on the intranet Implement a programme of alcohol related training to YIO s Ensure that alcohol specific issues are included in DAAT action plans, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP s) and other relevant strategies Ensure custody suites have coverage from dedicated arrest referral workers (ARW) - allow ARW access to all relevant detainees - provide reduction and treatment information to all detainees entering custody suites Increase the number of offenders entering appropriate treatment programmes (e.g. victims of domestic violence may need help from both domestic violence services and alcohol treatment services) Work closely with the force Domestic Violence Officer to identify any areas of work funding domestic violence initiatives/campaigns etc PERSON TIMESCALE RESPONSIBLE Ongoing Ongoing Ongoing Supt Criminal Justice Supt Criminal Justice C/Insp. (DIP) October 2005 October 2005
Work closely with the Force Road Safety Unit to enable effective working on Drink-drive campaigns Establish a Force steering group for key people involved in alcohol issues Work with local partners to develop a Code of Good Practice scheme via an independent board and encourage its implementation and have access to a database of those retailers of alcohol (on and off licence) who have signed up to the scheme Work with local Authorities and other agencies to ensure provisions of alternative activities for young people via drug forums Engage with local authorities and the alcohol industry to encourage pubs and clubs to pay towards the costs of policing crime and disorder caused by excessive alcohol consumption, and the creation of city Centre marshals to patrol areas such as taxi ranks and late night bus stops Establish and develop effective methods of communication with the alcohol industry. Engage with industry and appropriate training bodies to improve staff recognition of their responsibilities Ongoing ) Ongoing Intelligence
ACTION PERSON RESPONSIBLE TIMESCALE Gather and collate intelligence on licensed premises and alcohol related crime and feed into NIM (via The Area Tactical Tasking Co-ordination Group where appropriate ) Update information sharing protocols with partner agencies Share information with DAAT, CDRP s and other partners through The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy meeting hosted by the DAAT on a quarterly basis, local drug and alcohol forums and CDRP meetings Area Supt (Ops) October 2005 Enforcement ACTION Focus on persistent offenders via a multi-agency persistent and prolific offender management system (MAPPOM) Increase awareness of all Police staff including CSO s of how to deal with alcohol-related crime and disorder. This will include the enforcement of existing laws (e.g. laws not to sell alcohol to under 18s) and new legislation proposed under the Licensing Act 2003. PERSON TIMESCALE RESPONSIBLE Identify and spread good practice
in local policing strategies and tactics which tackle alcohol related crime Provide sufficient resources at force/regional level to support the alcohol industry in tackling alcohol related crime Target and reduce levels of street drinking especially underage drinkers Work with partner and enforcement agencies to target and reduce the selling of alcohol to underage drinkers making use of test purchasing schemes Work with the SIA to ensure that door supervisors are compliant with SIA (Security Industry Authority) standards. Work closely with Licensing Authorities and members of the local alcohol industry to develop effective operating schedules and license conditions under the Licensing Act 2003 To develop and work closely with an extended police family by means of an accreditation scheme to provide a more visible and effective authoritative presence. ACC (C) October 2005 Area Supt (Ops) October 2005 Area Supt (Ops) October 2005 Area Supt (Ops) October 2005