12 January 2009
Drinking banning orders to be introduced this summer
UPFRONT, news, night online, COMMENTS
The Home Offfice has unveiled new powers targeting offenders who commit crime under the influence of alcohol.
From next summer, drinking banning orders will allow police and local authorities to stop a person entering certain premises if they have been involved in criminal or disorderly conduct under the influence of alcohol. Breach of a drinking banning order, which can last up to two years, could lead to a fine of up to £2,500. The orders are focused on people whose drinking has been identified as a factor in their irresponsible and disorderly behaviour.
To add to the range of tools and powers to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder, the government has also published new guidance on obtaining designated public place orders - areas in which police and local authority officials can confiscate alcohol or prevent its consumption.
Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said: "The government has given police and local authorities a wide range of tools and powers to tackle alcohol fuelled crime. We have recently given police forces and councils across England and Wales a cash boost of £4.5 million to deal with specific local problems.
"Drinking banning orders will focus on offenders who’ve committed crime under the influence of alcohol. They are an example of our targeted and focused approach to ensure people can enjoy drinking sensibly and sociably."
Mike Craik, Association of Chief Police Officers national spokesperson for alcohol and licensing, said: "This significant funding of £4.5 million will enable us to make further inroads into what are real local issues in many areas. Police forces are always ready to work alongside partners in local councils to use resources and powers to provide a focus on drunken offenders who cannot behave in public places and who spoil the experience of others."
"The ability to take action against these problematic people by preventing them from entering certain places is something forces up and down the country can work with in future. Alongside intelligence-led enforcement activity directed at the specific problems excessive alcohol consumption brings, measures such as alcohol disorder zones, as a position of last resort, can also be a useful tool in the range of powers available to us."
Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, national alcohol misuse charity, said: "If used as part of a package of measures to reduce alcohol harms these initiatives can make a real difference to safety on our streets. Policing of alcohol-related crime must go hand in hand with more robust measures to curb irresponsible and illegal sales and improved treatment pathways for dependent drinkers."
Read the Guidance on Designated Public Place Orders (DPPO)
From: Night Online
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To speak on behalf of the entire industry:
Its treating a symptom, not the cause!
People are still going to go and get drunk. They are always going to be some people who don't know their limits and act like arseholes. The pressure of anti-drinking laws (rather than anti-anti-social attitudes) is simply going to make individuals paranoid, but they'll still keep drinking. 'Alcohol disorder zones'? Isn't that most town centers in the country? Sure, these orders may mean slightly more people are banged up for drink-related offences, but in the end its venues who suffer. Futhermore, if they tackle people on a case-by-case basis, banning them from certain premises, how are they going to enforce this? Electronic tagging? This plan is full of holes already.
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