Commentary
| Published date | 01 April 2004 |
| Author | Robin Fletcher |
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.77.2.97.39120 |
| Date | 01 April 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Commentary |
The
Police
Journal
COMMENTARY
One of the underpinning philosophies of the present govern-
ment’s approach to crime and antisocial behaviour is that the
ordinary citizen has to take some responsibility for setting and
maintaining acceptable social standards. At the same time the
government recognises that we are all entitled to exercise our
inalienable civil rights and no longer have to conform to ‘tradi-
tional’ practices which had been imposed by successive govern-
ments as a way of controlling the populace. In our more
enlightened times we acknowledge the diversity of our society
and embrace many new cultural practices that are enjoyed
elsewhere in the world. No more so than in the way we choose to
spend our leisure time.
In recent years the changes in the alcohol licensing laws in
the UK, to mirror those of our European partners, have been
greeted in many quarters with enthusiasm. It was argued that
much of the unpleasant drunkenness and antisocial behaviour
that occurred in our towns and cities was due to those trying
to consume extra alcoholic drink just prior to closing time and
that this action caused drunkenness. It was argued that by
extending the licensing hours this ‘pressure’, in some magical
way, would somehow disappear; after all, longer licensing hours
did not afflict all our continental cousins with the ‘drunkenness
disease’.
As a consequence of this argument we not only began to
reduce the restrictions on alcohol sales, but also adopted a more
lenient attitude to those who transgressed. No longer were those
found drunk and incapable arrested and charged with an offence;
instead they were cautioned and released as soon as they were
sober enough to make their way home.
Since then we have all witnessed the effects that the abuse of
alcohol can cause. Research has shown that as much as 70% of
visits to the local accident and emergency unit on Friday and
Saturday nights are alcohol-related and that the rise in violence
The Police Journal, Volume 77 (2004) 97
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