Crime and victims
Alcohol-related crime
The links between alcohol and violence are well established. But we are determined to rid our streets of this serious problem.
Code of practice for alcohol retailers
Between 13 May and 20 August 2009, we asked you what you thought about a new code of practice for those who sold or supplied alcohol. These proposals were designed to bring about real reductions in crime and disorder, making it safer for people to enjoy alcohol responsibly and to go out at night. We asked you to tell us your views on these proposals, and to provide further evidence wherever possible.
We received more than 7,000 responses from a broad range of people, including members of the public, licensing authorities, police, the alcohol industry and health organisations.
Our report Safe. Sensible. Social. Selling alcohol responsibly sets out the key themes from analysis of the consultation findings and our response to them. It also sets out the next steps in the our work on the mandatory code for alcohol retailers.
We have also published the independent analysis of the consultation responses, the findings of the survey conducted with members of the general public, an impact assessment and an equality impact assessment.
While it’s essential that cultural attitudes towards binge drinking change, we have also identified a number of ways of tackling the effects of alcohol-related crime.
Penalty notices
Practically, initiatives such as penalty notices help the police tackle alcohol-related crime more effectively, allowing the police to make arrests without being tied up in the police station filling out forms.
National alcohol strategy - the next steps
The cross-government strategy Safe, sensible, social (new window) outlines the next steps in the national alcohol strategy. It recommends a number of ways to tackle the problem of alcohol misuse, including:
- providing more help for people who want to drink less
- enforcing more strongly the existing rules on under-age drinking
- more trusted guidance for parents and young people
- putting a sensible drinking message on alcohol bottles
- greater use of fixed penalty fines for anti-social behaviour
Those recommendations were taken on board, and are now backed up by law. These laws make it easier for police and local authorities to address the anti-social aspects of excess drinking.
What you can do
There are a number of steps you can take if your concerned about alcohol-related crime in your area:
- find out more about the link between alcohol and crime, by taking a look at the available research publications
- contact your local community safety officer (new window) for more information about keeping yourself safe on the streets.
