Alcohol Related Crime

There is one thing I keep on saying just because it has made such a deep and lasting impression on me: In almost ten years of volunteer prison visiting in a category C prison, I never visited a criminal who was in for violent crime whose crime was not alcohol or drugs related. Now I am of course sure there are plenty of people who get into trouble and are sober at the time. But that was my experience. And of course I must bring my experience to this post.

I am concerned at the level of drink related violence, and general anti-social behaviour, in Devon and Cornwall. Be very cautious if some statistician tells you that incidents of anti-social behaviour declined in Devon and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by 27% over the past year. That figure is being bandied about by some but it is utterly spurious. The government changed the way anti-social behaviour was defined last year, changed it quite dramatically. There were eight different categories of “anti-social behaviour” and the government has cut these back to five – thus for instance “environmental” anti-social behaviour such as fly tipping (up by 5% this year) is no longer considered “anti-social behaviour”. So you can no longer depend on the statistics until we are again comparing like with like. There is no evidence to indicate that levels of anti social behaviour have actually declined in Devon and Cornwall. Nor for that matter is there any evidence that they have increased. The statistics are simply unavailable.

But if we are to deliver a society free from fear we must deliver a society free from anti-social behaviour. How shall we do it?

Well, I believe the answer is clear enough. In those areas in which disorderly behaviour continues to worsen, we will introduce zero tolerance policing. I am talking about the very worst areas here, not everywhere. Zero tolerance policing for disorderly behaviour will mean a presumption to arrest. A presumption to arrest because police officers must always have discretion. Arrest in this instance either means a night in the cells or street bail.

How then would you decide which areas come in for zero tolerance policing? There have been nearly 17,000 incidents of rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour in Devon and Cornwall in the past six months. But my inclination is to use a finer index. There will be a process of consultation with the police force first of course, but the figures for street drinking with rowdy behaviour (over 500 incidents in six months) and littering with drugs paraphernalia (130 plus incidents in the past six months) would, I believe, make good benchmark figures in which we could reasonably expect a reduction if I were elected. So that is the statistic we may use to define poor performance areas.

Not that our problems with alcohol are confined to the street drinking issue. We live in a world in which many now are given to pre-loading (drinking at home) before a night out. The more sinister aspects of alcohol related violence (stabbings for instance) are of grave concern – and violent crime is definitely on the increase in Devon and Cornwall. But we have to start somewhere if we are to put things right.

Nor would we merely have a heavy handed approach. There will be more Restorative Justice as an alternative to charge. That alternative will be offered where appropriate to those under 21s arrested. And where Restorative Justice (which generally involves elements of apology and restitution) is inappropriate, we will, wherever possible, offer the young offender Community Payback. Here again we are talking Community Payback as an alternative to charge. This is what used to be called “community service” but I prefer its modern stronger name. It is no soft option. But I have visited young offenders in what is euphemistically called a Young Offenders’ Unit. These are, with the best will in the world, true crime factories and imprisoning youngsters is no solution.

Again, there are other measures that are needed. Alcohol related crime requires a thoughtful approach. Some youngsters can become recidivists and in such instances we need to work to deliver the kind of mentoring approach advocated by the Cornish charity, White Gold. We also need to reintroduce Remand Fostering (currently abolished in Cornwall but still available in Devon), whereby if young offenders cannot be returned to abusive homes, there is some alternative to imprisonment. I will commit to that.

But with alcohol, what is critical is the detox issue. Under 21s addicted to alcohol (or indeed drugs) can be helped by home detox. This means a Community Detox Nurse visits the addict at home. I will ensure the numbers of detox nurses are doubled where necessary. But my real target is to fight to help establish Britain’s only dedicated detox centre for Under 21s addicted to drugs or alcohol – and to do that here in the South West.

Finally, I confirm that we will increase numbers of sworn officers on duty late on a Friday and Saturday night. This will mean an increase in numbers of Specials on the Force (volunteer officers working as specially trained constables). This can be done. At the same time there will be no further cuts in local policing.  

Our culture promotes binge drinking and fosters violence. In my view this is the fault of the adults like you and I who accept the sale of cheap strong liquor to the young. It is time to say enough is enough and build a better world, not just for ourselves but for the next generation.