AMEC3
From the Home Office:
"In the run-up to Christmas, we are implementing tough new measures to free our streets from drunken disorder. The government has pledged £2.5m to boost a range of specialist operations in the toughest ever crackdown on alcohol-fuelled disorder and rogue pub landlords.
The campaign will run until the end of the year and will involve all 43 police forces across England and Wales."
Police guidance says that policing tactics as part of AMEC (alcohol misuse enforcement compaign) will be intelligence-led and based on local solutions for local problems. However, core tactics are:
- Test-purchase operations (in partnership with trading standards officers)
- Early intervention – a highly visible police presence early in the evening, being robust about dealing with the low-level crime and disorder they encounter, can reduce more serious violent crime later on in the night.
- Use of FPNs (fixed penalty notices) – Issuing FPNs on the street can effectively deal with situations at a minimum cost to police bureaucracy and time off patrol.
- Effective use of CCTV – having officers stationed in the CCTV control room, or a direct radio link between control room staff and police can make early intervention more effective and can assist with identification of troublemakers
- Working with licensees and door staff – schemes such as Best Bar None have proved very successful
- Identification of problem premises and hotspots – managing resources around the ‘top ten’ problem premises and disorder hotspots can be very effective
- Multi-agency visits – working with the Fire Service, Environmental Health, Trading Standards, etc, multi-agency visits can be used to target premises which are known to be causing problems.
Nightsafe
Meanwhile, a Nightsafe scheme has been launched in Bradford to warn young people of the dangers of excessive drinking, by Bradford District Safer Communities Partnership. Aimed at 18-24 year olds, the campaign includes ads on the radio and buses, beer mats and posters in pub and club toilets. The will also be a giant mobile screen in part of Bradford city centre on two consecutive Friday nights – December 9 and 16 broadcasting campaign messages according to this Yorkshire Post story.
Nightsafe schemes (sometimes called 'Walk Away') are running in a number of towns and cities eg Leeds, Birmingham, Blackpool , some Suffolk towns, Great Yarmouth, Lincoln.
Lollies and plain clothes police
Club and pub goers in Carlisle will be offered lollies at the end of the night – a strategy believed to reduce noise nuisance and disorder. Also plain-clothes police officers will be checking that bar staff don’t serve drunk people. See the News and Star story here.
Comments