---
title: "Binge Drinking New Thinking: A Market Town Approach"
type: "pdf"
year: "2008"
canonical: "/projects/530"
---

# BINGE DRINKING NEW THINKING: A 'MARKET TOWN' APPROACH 

# Table of Contents

- [BINGE DRINKING NEW THINKING: A 'MARKET TOWN' APPROACH](#binge-drinking-new-thinking-a-market-town-approach)
  - [ALCOHOL FUELLED NIGHT TIME ECONOMY VIOLENCE](#alcohol-fuelled-night-time-economy-violence)
  - [Supporting Statement](#supporting-statement)
  - [J. CURTIS  Deputy Director for Community Safety](#j-curtis-deputy-director-for-community-safety)
- [BINGE DRINKING NEW THINKING: A 'MARKET TOWN' APPROACH](#binge-drinking-new-thinking-a-market-town-approach)
  - [SCANNING:](#scanning)
  - [ANALYSIS:](#analysis)
- [RESPONSE:](#response)
  - [ASSESSMENT:](#assessment)
- [INTRODUCTION:](#introduction)
- [SCANNING:](#scanning)
- [ANALYSIS:](#analysis)
- [Non-Domestic Violent offences by location $>5$ Incidents per Annum](#non-domestic-violent-offences-by-location-5-incidents-per-annum)
- [RESPONSE:](#response)
- [ASSESSMENT:](#assessment)
- [Newcastle Town Centre](#newcastle-town-centre)
- [Hanley Town Centre](#hanley-town-centre)
- [CONCLUSION](#conclusion)
- [REFERENCES](#references)
- [AGENCY AND OFFICER INFORMATION:](#agency-and-officer-information)
- [Project Contact Person.](#project-contact-person)
- [APPENDIX A](#appendix-a)
  - [Newcastle Town Centre Wounding (Serious and other)](#newcastle-town-centre-wounding-serious-and-other)
- [APPENDIX B](#appendix-b)
- [APPENDIX C](#appendix-c)

## ALCOHOL FUELLED NIGHT TIME ECONOMY VIOLENCE

HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT OFFICE WEST MIDLANDS AND STAFFORDSHIRE POLICE, UNITED KINGDOM, 2008

## Supporting Statement

I am writing to endorse this application to the 2008 Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing - Binge Drinking New Thinking: A "Market Town" Approach. This is a project aimed at reducing alcohol fuelled violent crime within the night time economy.

Smaller market towns do not often attract large amounts of central government programme funding although the volume of crimes in such an area can impact significantly on regional reduction targets.

In 2006 the GOWM commissioned an in-depth analysis of violent crime across the region to assess where TVCP programme funding could best be used to achieve notable reductions.

The report highlighted Newcastle under Lyme as an area for focus and stakeholders were charged with producing a detailed problem profile to inform a appropriate and realistic plans to achieve improvements in the area. Coherent and cohesive multi agency/partnership approaches were designed with the input of all major stakeholders using national guidance and best practice but tailored to specific local needs.

The programme overall has not only achieved higher reductions in violent crime than anticipated but assessment has identified emerging good practice around partnership approaches to tackling violent crime. The achievements are all the more impressive given the small amount of funding available but it was so successful that it was mainstreamed in 2007/8 as a programme that has helped to improve economic viability and quality of life in the area. Ongoing assessment is key to maintaining this success and lessons learned from this inform a programme of continuous improvement.

The GOWM regional lead will use the model to facilitate development of a regional good practice model using Newcastle as a benchmark and I am therefore strongly supporting this application to the Goldstein Awards as a prime example of national practice and learning, with a local focus.

Yours sincerely
![img-0.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-0.jpeg)

## J. CURTIS  Deputy Director for Community Safety

# BINGE DRINKING NEW THINKING: A 'MARKET TOWN' APPROACH 

ALCOHOL FUELLED NIGHT TIME ECONOMY VIOLENCEHER MAJESTYS GOVERNMENT OFFICE WEST MIDLANDS AND STAFFORDSHIRE POLICE, UNITED KINGDOM, 2008

## SCANNING:

Between 2004-2006 alcohol fuelled violent crime became a significant challenge to a number of Staffordshire partnerships set against Wounding (Serious and other) and Violence against the Person. Partners acknowledged difficulties and had systematically responded with a variety of policing options. Officers attended incidents over many years dealing with similar problems with no real improvements. Without clear focus, or problem solving process, piecemeal delivery was inevitable.

A different approach was required, embracing problem-oriented policing, committing resources to building energetic local partnership activity, with the sole aim of producing much required sustainable outcomes for the majority of law abiding citizens.

## ANALYSIS:

A report on priority partnerships and violent crime was produced. It recommended focusing resources within the Newcastle CDRP. A problem profile was then commissioned. This presented an accurate breakdown of all activities that elicited a police response with data providing evidence of the classification of crime / incident types, dates of incidents and time bands relating to occurrence.

The overall picture revealed one of alcohol fuelled violence within the night time economy setting. Therefore the programme aim was to reduce wounding by $15 \%$ and promote a 'Safer Newcastle' environment.

# RESPONSE: 

The stakeholders were tasked with providing appropriate, realistic plans for tackling problems. Interventions were based on knowledge from research studies, national practitioner databases and experience from local projects guided by the 'principles' test. The interventions chosen were focused on tackling violent crime at a local level.

Monitoring and evaluation continued throughout the period 2006 -2008, with output/outcome reports being available for evaluation and audit.

## ASSESSMENT:

The action of the Newcastle stakeholders produced a reduction in wounding of $25.9 \%$ in 2006-8 compared to 2004-6. This amounted to 72 less offences contributing to the Force reduction of $14.8 \%$. Their definitive approach has met and surpassed its original reduction targets.

The thread that runs through this programme is one of partnership response. It has seen, in many areas, the forging of new local partnerships, a multi agency 'collective' planning and executing action plans, monitoring and evaluation at a local level and importantly the use of analysis to future proof activity maintaining efforts through mainstream budgets. In other Staffordshire areas, assessed later in this paper, it appears not to have been so productive.

As a driven initiative it has reduced violent crime and has begun to create a new climate of social ease and community safety within Newcastle.

# INTRODUCTION: 

In 2006 GOWM developed a regional Tackling Violent Crime Programme (TVCP) to work closely with those Staffordshire areas experiencing difficulties in reducing violent crime, and to work intensively with them to find the best ways to address those challenges. It concentrated in the main on 'market town' environments identified on the regional radar as high volume/rate areas.

Of the areas this paper concentrates predominantly on Newcastle-Under-Lyme but also references Stoke-On-Trent for a number of reasons:

- They are representative of our TVCP approach, an example of a regional city area and a low volume/high rate 'market town', both suffering cross cutting issues of alcohol fuelled violence
- These areas are governed at borough/unitary council level respectively and cover an area known as North Staffordshire
- They were identified for inclusion onto the programme taking into account recent trends, and data on volume, rate and percentage change
- Newcastle received only one year's funding assistance, unlike Stoke, and evidences how activities have been successfully mainstreamed to help continue partnership momentum

Stoke on Trent is not a single city environment but an amalgamation of five towns, each with its own character, and home to approx 240,000 people. Although each town has an evening economy Hanley city centre is the heart of the entertainment district. Newcastle, its smaller neighbour, promotes itself as having a traditional market town ambience. As such the evening environment is vital to a flourishing borough and its economic importance is recognized at council level.

# SCANNING: 

Effective crime reduction strategies use a problem solving approach. This programme evidences the model of the preventative process: Scanning and Analysis of Data; an effective strategy (Preventative Measures); Implementation of chosen solutions; and Monitoring and Evaluation.

A location-specific programme with CDRP action plans was required to fulfil the aims and SMART objectives. Monitoring and evaluation processes were an integral tool. Rationale for our approach resulted from analysis of regional data focused on violent crime by partnership. The crime types used:

- Violence against the person
- More serious violence
- Less serious violence

Analysis was done by the following measures

- Change over time from the PSA1 baseline of 2003/4 to 2006/7 (updated for 2007/8 )
- Volume
- Rate

Recommendations, based on scores for having increase and high rate of violent crime, along with increases in overall violent crime, were that Newcastle (and Hanley) should be included in any reduction type programme. The overall aims of the approach were to:

- Reduce volumes/rate of violent crime focusing on alcohol fuelled violence which accounts for a major proportion of violent crime
- To improve performance of the partnerships and agency interaction

- Effectively use good practice and mechanisms to support, and improve, initiatives addressing night time problems
- Reduce crime/the fear of crime/increase public confidence in partnership activities

Unqualified aims to reduce crime...are laudable but probably not deliverable (Tilley and Laycock) [2002]

Night time issues were a persistent problem and subject to regular police action for many years. Officers working these locations dealt with the same problems year in year out, witnessing little sustainable improvement.

Problems were further exacerbated with a new liquor Licensing Act coming into force November $24^{\text {th }} 2005$. Variations to increase licensable activities/hours increased the peak violence. A new approach was required, embracing problem-orientated policing, forging strong partner activity, and aiming for long-term positive outcomes for stakeholders.

Newcastle produced an area problem profile. Stakeholders consulted with police, community safety managers, the borough liquor licensing department, trading standards, and others to access information systems as part of the scanning process. Geographic crime/incident packages identified long term activity trends providing an accurate breakdown of activities that elicited a police response.

Data provided information as to:

- Classification of crime / incident type
- Date of incident
- Time bands relating to occurrence
- Hot Spots for activity

The charts below (Fig 1) evidence seasonal trends (2000-2006) and the levels of non-domestic violence in Newcastle Town Centre 2005-6 by Home Office classification (Fig 2)

Fig 1 Newcastle Town Centre (BN11) Seasonal Trends ( $95 \%$ Confidence Limits)
![img-1.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-1.jpeg)

Fig 2

| Newcastle Non Domestic Violence for 2005-6 | Totals |
| :-- | :-- |
| Public Order Offences | 336 |
| Assault | 309 |
| Other Violence | 20 |
| Robbery/Personal Robbery | 11 |
| Sexual Offences | 9 |
| Threats to Kill | 8 |
| Possess Offensive Weapon in Public | 7 |

As a specific target Newcastle would:

- Reduce town centre wounding (serious and other) by a minimum of $15 \%$ over two years

A realistic delivery time scale of April 2006 - March 2008* was agreed and reduction targets were set against baseline data April 2004- March 2006. Participants felt that the aims and objectives, challenging as they were, were attainable. *Newcastle was not regionally funded after March 2007 yet continued to be monitored against an updated action plan*

# ANALYSIS: 

...although a causal link between alcohol and violence is difficult to establish the available literature suggests that the two are strongly associated (Czarnomski et al) [2006]

With scanning complete the partnership began analysing the data from their analysis period April 2005-March 2006. It was important to understand what was causing the volumes/rate of violence. Routine Activity Theory (Felson) states that three elements have to be present for a crime to occur:

- A suitable target; this can be a person, an object or a place.
- The absence of a capable guardian; this is anything that discourages a crime from taking place.
- A motivated offender; offenders have many different reasons for committing crime.

Therefore one can presume that for a crime not to occur one needs to alter at least one of the elements.
![img-2.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-2.jpeg)

The analysis provided evidence to direct solutions towards changes to two of these elements by establishing guardianship and reducing vulnerability of victims utilising the 25 opportunity reducing techniques of situational crime reduction. (Clarke et al) [1997 onwards]

The Newcastle analysis for 2005-6 evidenced there were 25 incidents of wounding within the town centre. Most wounding required hospital treatment and injured parties sustained serious injuries including broken bones, cuts and lacerations and multiple victims had been knocked unconscious. One victim suffered a punctured lung.

Analysis identified only $18 \%$ of assaults were covered by CCTV and with a majority of offences occurring in or outside premises on the two main thoroughfares of High Street and Iron Market suggested there was inadequate provision of cameras. It raised the distinct likelihood that many assaults were also going unreported. Unprovoked assaults occurred with the victim walking alone or in a small group, and targeted by the offender. Assaults were committed against bar staff and revellers drinking in, or outside, premises. Door supervisors and police were often assaulted dealing with violent individuals or incidents of disorder. 52\% of assaults occurred in licensed premises. The majority remaining happened on the main thoroughfares.

Historically, public order offences were the result of verbal confrontation or abuse between individuals. The analysis evidenced incidents of public disorder, commonly alcohol fuelled, occurred in/within close proximity to licensed premises. On this basis public disorder was often a precursor to assaults where without intervention the situation escalated into violence. $45 \%$ of Newcastle disorder occurred at licensed premises.
![img-3.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-3.jpeg)

# Non-Domestic Violent offences by location $>5$ Incidents per Annum 

|  |  | $\begin{gathered} \text { Mar } \\ 05 \end{gathered}$ | $\begin{gathered} \text { Apr } \\ 05 \end{gathered}$ | $\begin{gathered} \text { May } \\ 05 \end{gathered}$ | Jun $05$ | Jul $05$ | Aug $05$ | Sep $05$ | Oct $05$ | Nov $05$ | Dec $05$ | Jan $06$ | Feb $06$ | Sum: |
| :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: |
| High St | Grassinglohs | 3 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 67 |
|  | Fluid | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 38 |
|  | Edwards | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Ironmarket | Yates | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
|  | Reflex | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Hassell St | Revolution | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
|  | The Tube | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

Within the town the majority of public disorder occurred between 23:00 - 03:00hrs. Victim evidence suggested a lack of awareness amongst town centre users as to how alcohol consumption increased their risk of being a victim of violence. Half of all victims were under the influence of alcohol when assaulted. Victims of assault were generally white males. 74\% of non-domestic assaults were committed against males.

Alcohol contributes to violence by limiting drinkers' perceived options during a conflict, heightening their emotionality, increasing their willingness to participate...and impairing their ability to talk their way out of trouble (Scott/Dedel) [2007]
![img-4.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-4.jpeg)

Offenders were commonly white male adults. $72 \%$ of offenders were in their early - mid 20s. Offenders generally lived in Newcastle travelling into town to frequent licensed premises. Police statistics evidenced offenders being intoxicated and $55 \%$ of offenders were directly

affected by alcohol....According to the 2005/6 British Crime Survey...offenders were thought to be under the influence of alcohol in $44 \%$ of all violent incidents

The analysis of the crimes/locations indicated there were three main victims:

- Night Time Economy Users - Physical assaults, verbal abuse, public order
- Licensed Premises Staff - Door supervisors and bar staff assaults, verbal abuse, criminal damage to premises
- Newcastle Partnership - Policing costs, clear up costs, increasing revenue loss/capital expenditure.

Armed with the data partners defined a target area encompassing the town centre to address the challenges. Interventions were focused initially within this small localised area.

Practitioners accepted that such an initiative faced the risk of displacement of some kind. It was important to now engage all partners and agencies.

# RESPONSE: 

...adopting an effective approach to crime reduction ideally requires a degree of tactical understanding of what works, where, and how (Tilley and Laycock) [2002].

A coordinated approach was initiated with meetings between the author and area representatives. A core nucleus of community safety practitioners with the ability to produce effective assessments and capacity to deliver solutions.

The principles of Crime Reduction enable practitioners to solve particular problems, or at least reduce their occurrence, by ensuring that the right preventative measures are in place. Not all principles apply to all problems. It was vital that the partners tailored their interventions to the specific issues identified. Interventions chosen 'off the shelf' without any real thought tend not to work. (Hough and Tilley) [1997]

The group was tasked with providing appropriate, realistic interventions based on knowledge from research studies, national practitioner databases and local experience guided by the 'principles' test. Partners developed their intelligence sharing capabilities which gave them the ability to identify emerging hot spots and any issues from displacement. An intervention strategy was drawn up. A range of rolling positive crime reducing effects designed to produce ongoing improvements. A small selection is as follows:

- Sharing information/joint approaches dealing with identified issues
- Investigating contributory factors behind the violence and setting partner service level agreements ensuring a long term focus was maintained (Trading Standards test purchase, under age sales operations, Challenge 21 etc)

- Programmed multi agency visits, intelligence and analysis driven, ensuring evidence capture of offending behaviour and poor management, but also compliance with liquor Licensing Act objectives
- Sustained drink awareness campaigns and a partnership cumulative impact liquor licensing policy
- A tailored package of interventions such as the robust use of Fixed Penalty Notices (street issue citations) successfully dealing with early disorder issues reducing the prevalence of individuals committing more serious crime, deployment of body worn videos for patrol staff/door supervisors, taxi marshalling activities reducing flashpoints as revellers queued for late night transport, and 'meet and greet' policies at identified transport hubs raising awareness of personal safety, amongst others
- A vibrant Pubwatch group responsible for banning unruly customers from premises, providing an intelligence source re rogue traders, and working to remove 'happy hour' activities and multiple drink ordering within premises

Partners recognised they required a process to identify potentially problematic premises, and measures which could be taken against them, including making requests for licence reviews. They developed an innovative points matrix system (Fig 3). The process rates premises according to offences that are witnessed over the previous month and where information about potential breaches is received by the responsible authorities. The process was not developed with a view to persecuting licence holders. Every effort is made to assist licence holders to comply with the terms of their licence.

The police liquor licensing team acts as a central hub for collating data in respect of premises and makes the information available to the group, to the Licensing Authority, and other responsible authorities. Prior to monthly tactical meetings partners forward details of premises for discussion allowing the team to obtain records of incidents and occurrences.

Premises are judged against four parameters:

- Violence/Public Order
- Drugs Offences
- Breach of Occupancy/Fie Regulations/Health and Safety
- Non Compliance with Licensing Act

Fig 3

| Offence or incident type | Points to be awarded |
| :-- | :--: |
| Drugs Offences | $1-5$ |
| Drunkenness on premises | 1 |
| Sales to drunken person | 2 |
| Violence / public order | $1-5$ |
| Fixed penalty for allowing consumption /  selling to minors | 2 |
| Breach of occupancy / Fire regulations /  Health and safety | $1-5$ |
| Not complying with Licensing Act 2003 | $1-5$ |
| Allowing entry to persons under banning  order | 5 |
| External Drinking | 1 |
| Allowing Glass bottles outside | 1 |
| Offensive and abusive behaviour toward  enforcement officers | 5 |

Any complaint/occurrence relating to these offences results in points added to the premises total. A value is awarded based on confidence in management and competency of door supervisors. Confidence has a 3 point score where there is neutral confidence. Where confidence is low a higher score is awarded up to a maximum 5 points.

The offences total multiplied by confidence score gives an overall rating. The top three premises with the highest rating are then visited by the partners for further investigation.

The town CCTV system had no 'live time' operator capability. Partners had argued there was a need for an operator based system. Partners used analysis and GOWM funding to facilitate a pilot, using the services of a trained operator, to evidence the need for resource provision during peak nights of the week. Positive results gave the group leverage and the Local Authority agreed to fund an operator for an indefinite period.

# ASSESSMENT: 

The project, through the use of the Principles of Crime Reduction, had an overarching plan to reduce the volumes and rate of wounding (serious and other) in Newcastle, to ensure a safer, improving night time economy setting.

A small number of crimes encompass the majority of 'serious' and 'other' violence. At Force level less serious violence, 'other wounding', makes up $96.2 \%$ of the VAP crime group, within Newcastle $94.8 \%$. The implication of this is that analyses performed on aggregate data (i.e. either serious or less serious violence as a whole) will be heavily affected by these more prevalent crime types. See Table 1
(Police systems/Government crime classifications have received a number of overhauls causing difficulties in data capture, making the final evaluation process a somewhat long and torturous one)

| Table 1: Violence Against The Person Search Parameters |  |
| :--: | :--: |
| Code | Description |
| 1 | Murder |
| 2 | Attempted Murder |
| 4.1 | Manslaughter |
| 4.2 | Infanticide |
| 4.3 | Child destruction |
| $4.4 / 6 / 8$ | Causing death by dangerous driving |
| 5 | More serious wounding |
| 37.1 | Cause death by aggravated vehicle taking |
| 3 | Threat or conspiracy to murder |
| 4.7 | Causing or allowing death of vulnerable person |
| 4.9 | Causing death by driving: unlicensed, disqualified |
| 6 | Endangering railway passengers |
| 7 | Endangering life at sea |
| 8 A | Less Serious Wounding |
| 8 B | Other possession of weapons |
| 8 D | Racially or religiously aggravated other wounding |
| 11 | Cruelty to or neglect of children |
| 12 | Abandoning a child under the age of two years. |
| 13 | Child abduction |
| 14 | Procuring illegal abortion |

# Newcastle Town Centre 

* Baseline figures Wounding (serious and other) for 2004/2006 - 556
* Intervention Year 1 2006/2007 - 244 Down 12.2\%*
* Intervention Year 2 2007/2008 - 168 Down 31.1\%*
*Compared to average 12 month period using 2004-6 baseline data*

Overall reductions in Newcastle town centre wounding (serious and other) as compared to pre-intervention 2004-2006 $=$ down $25.9 \%$.
![img-5.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-5.jpeg)

Since project partners implemented improvements, local people and police have noticed a marked improvement in town centre behaviour evidenced by continuing reductions in recorded crime and anecdotal evidence.

As practitioners the working and learning process of any initiative is vital. Much of what is achieved is based on sound learning, not only from a theoretical point of view, but from research into good practice around a particular problem profile. There is little point in attempting to solve a problem whilst making the same mistakes as others have in the past. Good research is essential.

Crime data for the general area signified no detrimental displacement having reacted to the crime generating factors from the town centre 'footprint'. Indeed, there is good evidence to demonstrate a positive diffusion of benefit has occurred across the borough, especially over the peak Xmas periods, due in no small part by the expansion of successful tactical partner activities.

Newcastle Policing Unit Dec 06 compared to Dec 07

|  | DEC 06 | DEC 07 | DIFF | $\%$ |
| :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: | :--: |
| All Crime | 668 | 487 | 181 | -27 |
| BCS  Crime | 391 | 261 | 130 | -33 |
| Violence | 246 | 167 | 79 | -32 |
| Criminal  Damage | 155 | 95 | 60 | -39 |
| Theft from  M/V | 39 | 26 | 13 | -33 |
| ASB | 327 | 251 | 76 | -23 |

The night time 'community', the partnership and those whose livelihoods depend on a successful evening economy saw tangible benefits from the project:

- Reduced levels of premises/street violence
- Reduce levels of disorder
- Less alcohol related violence
- Less drunkenness and rowdiness in the town
- Reduced calls for service
- Reduced overall damage repairs for businesses and the council

Important results that offset the $£ 30,000$ regional grant that pump primed activities in Newcastle. The partnership has worked well thus far funding expanding work through mainstreaming, is presently revisiting and re-assessing with the stakeholders what has been achieved, and addressing concerns through use of the SARA process. This will ensure that momentum is sustained.

Results in Hanley represent a similar picture based on a 2 year $£ 40,000$ grant (of $£ 20 \mathrm{k}$ invested 2007-8 only 10k was allocated to TVCP activity).

# Hanley Town Centre 

* Baseline figures Wounding (serious and other) for 2004/2006 - 933
* Intervention Year 1 2006/2007 - 424 Down 9.1\%*
* Intervention Year 2 2007/2008 - 359 Down 15.33\%*
*Compared to average 12 month period using 2004-6 baseline data

Overall reductions in Hanley city centre wounding (serious and other) as compared to pre-intervention 2004-2006 = down $16.1 \%$.
![img-6.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-6.jpeg)

There is however a caveat that the author will address. Results from the two areas are encouraging, however there are often other factors affecting long-term interventions. During 2005-6 national Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns raised the profile on the alcohol agenda. Stakeholders believe these 'quick hit' campaigns helped 'stop the rot'.

Over 2006-8 these short, national campaigns continued on key areas. On a positive, assisting partners to focus on contributory factors like under age sales. The negative aspect was it drew

precious resources away from main activity zones and increased reporting and administration procedures.

One can rightly argue that the author is somewhat generous in purporting that the local TVCP approach was responsible for all contributory reduction figures however it is important to the evaluation process that there is a degree of transparency and honesty in its determination. The overwhelming response from stakeholders to our regional approach has been positive.
....Establishing effective arrangements for partnership work can be hard (Hough and Tilley) [1997]

Partnership working in any context depends upon 3 essential elements; identification and ownership of common outcomes, signing up to an agreed process and developing strong relationships...local partnership working is the key to delivering real, tangible benefits of reductions in alcohol related harms (UK Home Secretary) [2008]. Based on the quantative and qualitative evidence available the main author has made a number of inferences:

Firstly, the Newcastle partnership ethos is as important as the results themselves. Success has depended on intelligence-led activity. Partners recognised their respective roles and identified the added value through adopting a corporate approach. The alignment of actions with strategies facilitated a problem solving process and contributed to TVCP outcomes and local agreements (e.g. Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy). They are future proofing and expanding by employing an Alcohol Reduction Officer from mainstream budgets for the next three years.

The signing up of an agreed process provided clarity and understanding of agency protocols, enabling consistent methodology resulting in, for example, the matrix system. There is accessibility for all partners regarding referring cases and sharing issues. The development of strong relationships resulted in an openness to sharing information, and a willingness to

remove barriers. Agreed tasking/actions were implemented with immediate effect. There is a healthy respect and accountability between stakeholders, including those outside of the statutory framework, i.e. licensees and door supervisors.

Secondly the police licensing teams, at Newcastle and Hanley, seem pivotal to success. From their original front line 'lead position' they have evolved into a central intelligence hub for the partnership collective, feeding the actions of stakeholders, involving themselves in pro active operations, and disseminating the learning to neighbourhood teams. Hanley now fund an custody based alcohol referral worker investigating offenders' alcohol abuse/behaviour issues and linking in with Domestic Violence agencies and the MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference) where appropriate (offender-PAT).

Newcastle is one of four two tier Crime and Disorder Partnership (CDRP) areas funded through the Staffordshire programme. Assessed against the same parameters, two of these areas achieved only small reductions with another recording an increase. The activity of their liquor licensing units may be a key symptom. One unit, covering two of the CDRP areas, struggles to deliver pro activity and has administrative capacity only. The partnership working, both at intelligence and operational levels, is not as robust as a result. There is no doubting the passion and commitment of the current staff to change working practices but this is held back by lack of appropriate resources.

The author accepts that his burgeoning Inter Personal Violence portfolio reduced his capacity and interaction with partners during the 2007-8 programme. The forging of the local stakeholder groups however meant that they were able to 'fill the gap' and continue their strong momentum whilst maintaining a generic link with the regional lead and the opportunity to call in support at any time.

# CONCLUSION 

The problem had been a long-standing issue requiring long-term solutions. Monitoring and evaluation continues at a local level to evidence results. The programme was conceived as a low-cost enduring approach aiming to improve the quality of offering for town centre users. To a large extent that has been achieved in Newcastle and Hanley, though they operate different working arrangements that fit their local needs. They are well placed to deliver on the new national Safer, Social, Sensible alcohol agenda and the U.K Home Office Violence Action plan 2008-11.

With some 'tweaking' the other areas are not far behind. Stakeholders have rightly identified where changes can be made that will lead to an improved process. These improvements would be of real benefit and should result in robust, sustainable and expanding delivery across the violence agenda.

The author would recommend the Force further examines the licensing approach at Newcastle and Hanley as part of a corporate methodology enabling continuing violent crime reductions across the county. Consideration should be given to a seminar to disseminate the good practice and lessons learned from this TVCP experience at county level.

NB - For the purposes of this report it was decided to provide general background information, but to concentrate the submission primarily on the Newcastle 'market town' approach to violence reduction. Consequently the main author has retained considerable background information that does not feature within this submission.

Appendix A - Newcastle Town Centre Wounding (Serious and other)
Appendix B - Hanley City Centre Wounding (Serious and other)
Appendix C - Violence against the Person Search Parameters

# REFERENCES 

Michael S.Scott [2004] The Benefits and Consequences of Police Crackdowns Response Guide No 1

Home Office [2004] Lessons from the Summer 2004 AMEC
Prime Ministers' Strategy Unit [2004] Alcohol Harm Reduction Campaign

World Health Organisation [2005] Alcohol and Interpersonal Violence Policy Briefing
Ronald V.Clarke Phyllis A.Schultze [2005] Researching a Problem Tool Guide No 2
Home Office [2005] Lessons from the Xmas 2005 AMEC
Michael S. Scott Kelly Dedel [2004-6[ Assaults in and Around Bars 1 $1^{\text {st }}-2^{\text {nd }}$ Editions

Lucia Summers [2006] TVCP Good Practice Guide
Sarah Czarnomski Ben Marshall Lucia Summers [2006] TVCP Evaluation

Rick Bowen Michael S.Scott [2007] Implementing Responses to Problems
Home Office [2007] Saving Lives. Reducing Harm. Protecting the Public. Action Plan for
Tackling Violent Crime 2008-11
Wright Roberts Czechowski Davies [2007] TVCP operational assessments
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Home Office [2007] Safe Sensible Social - The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy
Home Office [2008] Research Report 4 Impact of Licensing Act 2003. An evaluation.
Alcohol in the West Midlands [2007] Information and Recommendations for Action

Chris Allen Andy Smith [2008] Evaluation of a regional Specialist Domestic Violence Court
www.crimereduction.gov.uk
www.homeoffice.gov.uk
www.popcenter.org
www.cops.usdoj.gov
www.caan.adf.org.au
www.ncjrs.gov
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov

# AGENCY AND OFFICER INFORMATION: 

$>$ At what level of the police organization
was this problem-solving initiative adopted?

The Author ensured that partners co-ordinated all activities at a local level supported by the local policing Inspector, liquor licensing teams and multi agency staff. The achievements and learning are now being promoted beyond the original town centre areas.
$>$ Did officers or management receive any
training in problem-oriented policing
and/or problem solving before this
project began or during its execution?

Very few of the operational staff were trained in problem solving policing prior to the inception of the project. Having action plans with appropriate checks and balances, along with the valuable crime reduction experience of others from within the wider partnership, enabled the POP approach to reach a broad spectrum of staff.
$>$ Were additional incentives given to police officers who engaged in problem solving? No additional incentives were given to officers engaged in this project.
$>$ What resources and guidelines manuals, past problem-solving examples, etc.were used, if any, by police officers to help them manage this problem-solving initiative

A number of theoretical and practitioner reference documents were utilized as a working knowledge base at the inception of the project. Examples can be found within the reference listings.

What issues/problems were identified
with the problem-oriented policing
model or the problem solving model?

This type of project should act as a catalyst to educate those within policing circles as to the benefits of a problem solving philosophy. A 'sea change' in problem solving methodology is still required amongst rank and file officers despite the clear evidence nationally, and internationally, that problem solving works. Let's face it, some people just don't get it! The continuous pressure to achieve national targets assigned from central government are also counter productive in many ways to the problem solving model due to their short term reductive requirement.
$>$ What general resources (financial and/or personnel)
were committed to this project, and of those resources,
what went beyond the existing department budget?

The major capital expenditure on this initiative was funded by a small budget allocation from regional government. Much of the comprehensive background work regarding scanning, analysis, response and evaluation were completed a small group of people with no increased capacity. It is to the credit of the areas involved that they were able to sustain their momentum through mainstreaming activities.

# Project Contact Person. 

Andy Smith
Sergeant 3150
Home Office Crime Team
Her Majesty's Government Office West Midlands
5, St Philips Place
Colmore Row
Birmingham
West Midlands
B3 2PW
Telephone: 01213525023 Cell Phone: 07776478173 Fax
Email Work: andy.smith@gowm.gsi.gov.uk Home: sahara.man@virgin.net

# APPENDIX A

## Newcastle Town Centre Wounding (Serious and other)

![img-7.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-7.jpeg)

# APPENDIX B

![img-8.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/08-15/img-8.jpeg)

# APPENDIX C

|  Table 1: Violence Against The Person Search Parameters |   |
| --- | --- |
|  Code | Description  |
|  1 | Murder  |
|  2 | Attempted Murder  |
|  4.1 | Manslaughter  |
|  4.2 | Infanticide  |
|  4.3 | Child destruction  |
|  $4.4 / 6 / 8$ | Causing death by dangerous driving  |
|  5 | More serious wounding  |
|  37.1 | Cause death by aggravated vehicle taking  |
|  3 | Threat or conspiracy to murder  |
|  4.7 | Causing or allowing death of vulnerable person  |
|  4.9 | Causing death by driving: unlicensed, disqualified  |
|  6 | Endangering railway passengers  |
|  7 | Endangering life at sea  |
|  8 A | Less Serious Wounding  |
|  8 B | Other possession of weapons  |
|  8 D | Racially or religiously aggravated other wounding  |
|  11 | Cruelty to or neglect of children  |
|  12 | Abandoning a child under the age of two years.  |
|  13 | Child abduction  |
|  14 | Procuring illegal abortion  |