News

Source - The Scotsman 07/07/2011

Strathclyde Police has recorded 40,000 crimes of drinking to excess in the last ten years.

The force handles an average of ten calls a day purely to stem the tide of alcohol-fuelled antics.

In the same period, other constabularies in the country have only dealt with 24,381 recorded offences.

The figures include arrests and the handing out of fixed-penalty notices known as "drink Asbos" since they were introduced in 2007.

According to data obtained under Freedom of Information laws, Northern Constabulary - which polices an area the size of Belgium - had the second highest number of offences.

It recorded 8,435 drunk and incapable charges since 2000 and handed out 1,006 fixed-penalty notices in the last three years.

Third on the list was Tayside Police, which recorded 4,512 drink Asbos and 383 drunk and incapable charges.

However, the force's figures are likely to be much higher as it only started recording the offence separately last year.

Supt Grant Manders, of Strathclyde Police, said his force will always have to tackle more drink-related crime because of the night-time economy in Glasgow.

He said: "The population density of Glasgow is so much greater than the rest of the country and many people are drawn to the city on nights out."

But he welcomed the fall in overall levels of excessive drinking, after the data showed a drop from 4,591 offences in 2000 to 2,262 last year.

However, he warned that there was still "a lot more work to be done" to tackle Scotland's relationship with the bottle.

He added: "There is a debate to be had with the police and public as to who is best to look after people who are clearly so intoxicated they cannot look after themselves.

"Alcohol remains a major, major problem for Scotland and Strathclyde in terms of its links to violence and crime in general.

"It is not so much about age groups who are prone to go out and drink to excess as it is a cultural issue.

"Whilst the fall in numbers of drunk and incapable offences is a testament to robust measures we have put in place and partnership with health boards, we need to break the root cause which lies within our culture.

"We have only last week launched a new strategy aimed at tackling alcohol misuse. We are aiming to tackle problematic drinking, underage drinking and binge drinking."

Cliff Anderson, general secretary of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, said: "It has been well documented that excessive drinking costs society a huge amount through its impact on health and social work and police services.

"It is very high a price to pay. Every day, police officers deal with a significant number of incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour where the consumption of alcohol is clearly a contributory factor."