Evaluation of an educational policing strategy to reduce alcohol-related crime associated with licensed premises.

OBJECTIVES Licensed premises are associated with a considerable level of alcohol-related harm. This study examined the effectiveness of an educational policing strategy, implemented as routine policing practice, to reduce the number of patrons of licensed premises involved in police-recorded incidents of violence, disorder and motor vehicle crashes. PARTICIPANTS The educational policing strategy targeted on-licensed premises registered as operating in 2003. The strategy was delivered by police and was overseen by the research team. SETTING The intervention was conducted in 21 non-metropolitan New South Wales Police Force commands. INTERVENTION On the basis of routinely collected and recorded police data, premises received one of three levels of police response on three separate occasions from December 2002 to July 2003. The police responses were letters, incident reports, covert audits and feedback meetings. OUTCOMES The rate of patrons who had last consumed alcohol on licensed premises before being involved in police-recorded incidents decreased from 1.24 per premises in the 4-month baseline period to 1.11 in the 4-month follow-up period (p=0.08). There was a significant reduction, from 7.08 to 5.65 patrons (p=0.03), in such a rate for high-risk premises that received the most intensive police response. High-risk premises also recorded a significant reduction in the rate of intoxicated patrons involved in such incidents, from 5.50 to 4.40 (p=0.05). CONCLUSION The findings suggest a potential benefit of an educational policing strategy in reducing alcohol-related harm associated with licensed premises. Further implementation of this strategy concurrent with rigorous evaluation is warranted.