“One Way Door” Remains Open
The one-way door policy designed to reduce violence in inner-city Christchurch was not without its faults, but it worked well enough to be extended.
The Christchurch Central Business District Alcohol Accord was implemented from October 2006 to March 2007 in a bid to reduce alcohol-related violence and crime in the Christchurch CBD.
The initiative arose out of collaboration between representatives of the Police District Licensing Unit, Christchurch City Council, Hospitality Association, and the Canterbury District Health Board division Community and Public Health.
The aims of the policy were to:
• reduce the incidence of violence where the perpetrator and/or victim are affected by alcohol
• improve local-level responses to alcohol-related violence
• increase the safety of environments where alcohol consumption occurs
• reduce crime and violence in the CBD by 10 per cent
The key component of the accord was planned to be a 3am one-way door operating in licensed premises on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, meaning patrons couldn’t enter bars after that time.
A high level of participation in the initiative was achieved, with more than 50 licensed premises in the CBD signing the Alcohol Accord.
The intervention was implemented mostly as planned, with the key exceptions that the one-way door was delayed from the planned 3am to 4am, and was diluted somewhat by allowing licensed premises the option of operating a cover charge as an alternative to the one-way door.
The goal of a 10 per cent reduction in alcohol-related crime and violence in the inner city was not met. In fact, there was a 75 per cent increase in total offences during that time over the same period a year earlier, though the majority of that resulted from breaches of the liquor ban.
Christchurch Central Area Police Commander Inspector Gary Knowles said much of that increase was expected and was directly attributed to the increased police presence in the inner city and more effective community partnerships.
“Importantly, the number of serious offences – grievous assaults, sexual attacks and robberies – fell during the six-month trial period, by as much as 21 per cent compared with the same period in 2005-06. And since the trial period ended the number of serious offences has continued to decline.”
By targeting lower-level offences such as minor assault and disorderly conduct, there had been less serious violence being reported in the central city, he said.
“It is important to remember, police statistics are just one measure of the success of the one-way door initiative under the Alcohol Accord. Just as important are the partnerships that have formed between licensees and agencies and the joint responsibility by everyone to improve central-city crime and violence.”
Inspector Knowles said the police had made an ongoing commitment to continue with the level of central-city policing that had operated during the trial, working to further reduce central-city violence. “The Alcohol Accord is a key initiative to help achieve this goal.”
Central Business District Alcohol Accord Management Committee chairman Peter Morrison said the liquor industry was pleased with the success of the accord since it was launched.
“It has helped reduce serious central-city crime and violence and has had no negative impact on licensee turnover.”
Since the trial ended early last year licensees had endorsed the continuation of the accord, which highlighted the industry’s commitment, Mr Morrison said.
“The Alcohol Accord has not only built strong partnerships and better co-operation between licensees and agencies, it has also improved street lighting, resulted in better rubbish collection, improved taxi access and helped identify unsafe areas in the city.”
The committee has also decided to introduce new initiatives under the accord, such as working to alleviate issues associated with party buses dropping off intoxicated passengers in the central city at night, improving pedestrian access along Oxford Terrace, and working with suburban bars and sports clubs to alleviate the issues associated with intoxicated patrons arriving in the central city late at night.
It also agreed to push for further changes to the Sale of Liquor Act to provide sensible restrictions on liquor promotions, and to launch educational programmes relating to the liquor ban and personal safety.
An ALAC evaluation of the one-way trial showed there were improved perceptions of safety in the Christchurch CBD at night. There was also a unanimous view that relationships between stakeholders had been significantly improved by the intervention, and this was regarded as a key achievement of the project. However, it was noted that involving licensees earlier would have benefited the project. The one-way door solution had substantially been decided before licensees became involved in the project, and it appeared the result was that they were not fully persuaded about the policy and hence did not support the 3am proposal.
Sergeant Al Lawn, head of the Christchurch Police Liquor Licensing unit, was one of the instigators of the policy after studying successful trials in Australia. On the Gold Coast alcohol-related offences dropped by 17 per cent and sexual offences by 12 per cent after the introduction of such an accord.
However, the hour of difference between 3am and 4am is crucial to the success of such measures, Sergeant Lawn said. “Crime starts to tail off the later in the morning you go, so the later you start intervening the less opportunity you have to cut crime,” he said.
“The Christchurch experience was not as successful as it could have been if we had gone with an earlier time. All of the Australian policies had a 3am cut-off, but to get the industry on board we had to give something to get something. “But I think this is a good start. We are working with the industry to turn the corner on this problem.”
The central city can be made safer still by expanding on the initiatives undertaken so far, Sergeant Lawn said.
“There are a number of influences that need to be turned around to help create a better perception in the city. One is to get people in town earlier. Currently they are not coming into the central city until 12.30am, after already consuming three-quarters of the alcohol they will drink during the night, bought cheaply at off-licences.
“These are people who are predominantly price-sensitive – young people with only a certain amount of disposable income. “If we can change the price structure and availability of alcohol, and get people into the city earlier, it would even be possible to have a 1am one-way door policy and have an even greater impact on crime.”
That has already started happening voluntarily in some outlets in Christchurch, with some bar managers deciding to implement the one-way door policy an hour or two before 4am, Sergeant Lawn said.
“That is just brilliant, because the managers are seeing the policy as a tool and most people understand the policy and just accept it.”
The next step will be extending the accord to smaller off-licences, encouraging them to stop selling alcohol at 11pm, and working with alcohol outlets in the suburbs, where many people drink before heading to the inner city, Sergeant Lawn said.
In addition, police are introducing a Responsible Server programme, under which all staff involved with selling alcohol will be trained to a certain level.
“We are doing that with the Casino at the moment, in conjunction with their training staff, and it makes a big difference,” Sergeant Lawn said.
Christchurch City Council has been thrilled with the take-up of the policy by the licensees, council Community Adviser Robyn Steel said.
“The licensees are in the process of re-signing the accord, and it was their decision to do that, which is great. That will take it through to July 2009, and it will be re-evaluated after that.” There were also plenty of positives to take out of the crime statistics from the trial period, Ms Steel said.
“There were pockets of times when serious crime was reduced by 22 per cent, and that is really significant in times when violent crime statistics all around are rising,” she said.
“Also, the police have been fantastic, and put a lot of energy into supporting the policy. Statistics for breaches of the liquor ban and disorder offences went through the roof over that trial period, and that was purely the result of increased police presence.”
Improved perceptions of safety in the inner city were encouraging but Christchurch still had some way to go in that area, with a quality of life report last year rating the city last among New Zealand’s 12 largest in that area, Ms Steel said.
“There is still only 38 per cent of our population that thinks the Christchurch inner-city is safe after dark. So we are not great, and need to do more yet.”
Further initiatives include support for training of bar and security staff, and improving late-night public transport from the inner city, she said.
“For taxi drivers it is not too appealing to pick up someone who is incredibly drunk at four o’clock in the morning. We have an alternative transport committee looking at that. “There are always things you can do.”
The promise shown by the Christchurch one-way door policy has been picked up on elsewhere, with Nelson and Dunedin among a number of communities considering adopting similar one-way door measures at certain times of the night.
This article first appeared in alcohol.org.nz Vol 8 No 4 April 2008
April 23 2008 01:44 pm | violence and alcohol