Alcohol Alcohol Consumption in Public Places
Designation Orders: Best Practice
Newquay - Cornwall
Newquay is a seaside town with a population of 20,000. It has a vibrant night-time economy and a total club capacity of 10,000 people. Newquay is currently a mecca for stag and hen weekends and is easily accessible by road or air.
Drink promotions in its bars and clubs have however brought with them problems of underage drinking and alcohol-related crime and disorder.
There is also a significant problem with underage drinking in the town centre area. Local youths make concerted efforts to purchase alcohol from shops in the town area then go on to commit anti-social behaviour.
Response
The powers to confiscate alcohol in a designated area and to confiscate alcohol from young people have been particularly useful in targeting alcohol misuse.
During recent years, emphasis was placed on the roads and streets included in the DPPO area to confiscate alcohol. CCTV provided the intelligence while a small team of dedicated officers patrolled the streets to deal specifically with alcohol issues. The power to confiscate alcohol as well as the nightly intrusive club and pub visits was essential to their role.
Newquay police have also proactively used the powers under the Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons Act 1997) to confiscate alcohol from youths.
We have considerable success in alcohol Test Purchase operations run with Trading Standards targeting outlets seeling alcohol to under age persons.
Section 27 powers (Direction to Leave) has also been very effective, especially in targeting persistant local youth offenders who gather in the town centre to consume alcohol.
We have also recently run a successful operation in conjunction with a local club and camp site which targeting under 18's who attended Newquay after their GCSE exams. This group have traditionally caused problems in the town. Specific alcohol free nightclub evenings were arranged together with other purpose designed events at a local camp site. The operation was particularly successful in reducing alcohol consumption and corresponding anti social behaviour.
What has been learnt?
Sufficient dedicated resources need to be available if confiscation of alcohol is to be effective. If carried out in a firm but fair manner there is very little friction caused by enforcing this legislation.
It is important to have high profile signs regarding the DPPO and one-way bins for the seized alcohol containers.
For further information contact:
Inspector Dave Meredith
Tel: 08452 777444
Email: david.meredith@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Last update: Friday, August 29, 2008