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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for nuisance behaviors
9 results foundAuthor: Jacobson, Jessica Title: Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour: A Critical Review Summary: Over the past decade, anti-social behaviour (henceforth referred to as ASB) has become a focus of much policy-making and debate within central and local government and the police. Clear definitions of ASB are lacking, but the term is usually understood to refer to relatively minor criminal activity and non-criminal ‘nuisance’ behaviour that affects the social and/or physical environment of public or semi-public places. The term ASB is frequently used synonymously with ‘disorder’, and is sometimes associated with the concept of ‘incivilities’. This study emerged out of the recognition that despite the depth of policy interest in ASB in the UK, there is a lack of clarity in many of the policies and strategies (both national and local) that address the issue. Certainly, many of the specific problems associated with ASB are extensively documented, in national policy literature and in local CDRP audit and strategy documents. And strategists and practitioners across the country are engaged in the task of designing and implementing measures that target the problems of ASB in an enormously wide variety of ways. However, notwithstanding this profound commitment to addressing the problems of ASB, it appears that there are gaps in understanding of the phenomenon. Policymakers have not engaged in rigorous thinking about the inter-relationships between ASB and other problems – particularly crime, structural inequalities, and the loss of social capital within the most deprived families and neighbourhoods. Hence, for example, there has been little analysis of how local and national work on ASB can contribute to current programmes on civic renewal and neighbourhood regeneration, although it is usually taken for granted that these different agendas are closely interlinked. Those responsible for the ASB agenda – particularly within the Home Office and its Anti-Social Behaviour Unit (ASBU) – have driven it forward on the conviction that ASB, because it causes misery for a lot of people, must be stopped by all means available (which has tended to mean through enforcement). A typical statement of the TOGETHER campaign reads: The campaign represents a commitment, by everyone involved, to take a stand, to be accountable for their actions and to uphold standards of decency and behaviour. Above all, the TOGETHER campaign is about taking action. By working together, we can deliver change in our communities (Home Office, 2004c) To some extent, this represents a refreshingly vigorous and focussed approach to a deep-seated and often very serious problem. However, the lack of critical and analytical thinking on ASB carries certain risks, particularly that the action will fail if it does not involve understanding of the root causes as well as the symptoms of ASB; being tough on ASB and tough on the causes of ASB if you will. Elsewhere we have called for a balanced approach to ASB strategies (Millie et al., 2005b), where strategies consider prevention as well as enforcement options. Without integrating such work there is a danger that those involved in dealing with these causes on the ground will be alienated because their work is under-valued and under-resourced, that different strands of action relating to ASB and wider issues will work against rather than complement each other. In recognition of the existing gaps in understanding of ASB we initiated this study in order to look at one aspect, namely the rationales of current work on ASB. On the face of it, it seems wholly sensible to tackle ASB simply because ASB is ‘a bad thing’; but what are policy-makers and practitioners seeking to achieve by tackling ASB? This key question raises in turn a number of supplementary questions about rationales for ASB work, including: To what extent is work on ASB (at national and local levels) underpinned by explicit rationales? Are there different rationales, and to what extent do they conflict with or complement each other? Do different rationales for action on ASB imply different forms of action? Are the aims and expectations associated with work on ASB realistic? To what extent are rationales for work on ASB informed by relevant research? Details: London: Institute for Criminal Policy Research, School of Law, King’s College London, 2005. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2012 at: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/3791/1/2005%20Jacobson%20Millie%20%20Hough%20report.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/3791/1/2005%20Jacobson%20Millie%20%20Hough%20report.pdf Shelf Number: 126181 Keywords: Antisocial Behavior (U.K.)Disorderly ConductIncivilitiesNuisance Behavior and DisorderNuisance Behaviors |
Author: Miller, Peter Title: Interventions for reducing alcohol supply, alcohol demand and alcohol-related harm Summary: This project synthesises existing evidence and knowledge to improve our understanding of good practice in minimising the range of harms associated with alcohol misuse, especially supply and demand reduction strategies. It builds on the literature by using a Delphi study to answer many of the existing questions for which no research literature yet exists. All interventions that aim to reduce the supply of alcohol discussed in this report have received substantial evidence for their effectiveness. Specifically, reducing alcohol outlet opening hours, increasing minimum legal purchase age, reducing alcohol outlet density and controlling alcohol sales times have each undergone a vast number of evaluations and have been found to be effective in reducing the supply of alcohol and reducing the harms associated with its consumption. The most promising supply-reduction interventions identified were reducing trading hours for packaged liquor and reductions in the types and size of liquor that can be sold, the public listing of 'violent venues&rsquo' and serving only mid-strength beverages after midnight in late night venues. Demand reduction strategies appear to be effective; however, there is a lack of research or evaluations in the area. Increasing alcohol excise and taxation has been found to be very cost-effective, as well as being effective in reducing the consumption of alcohol and often results in overall social benefit. However, research for other demand reduction strategies, such as family-based alcohol misuse prevention and developmental prevention interventions is still in its infancy. Although such interventions have received some support for their effectiveness, further research needs to be undertaken. The most effective harm reduction interventions were the Safer Bars program, targeted policing interventions (including 'consequence policing') and the introduction of plastic glassware. The most promising harm-reduction interventions identified were alcohol management plans in the Northern Territory, the introduction of mandatory security plans for venues, RSA marshals and mandatory high-visibility clothing. The study has identified a large number of interventions for the reduction of alcohol-related harm, but the majority of these have minimal evidence bases. A further concern is that the bulk of interventions have been developed to reduce alcohol-related harm and as a result, there exists few supply and demand reduction strategies. While the most effective solutions have been found to act at the societal level, there is a clear demand for more interventions that focus at community, social, family, or individual levels, even if they are not going to have the same level of impact. Details: Canberra: National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (NDLERF), 2015. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed April 8, 2015 at: http://www.ndlerf.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/monographs/monograph-57.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: http://www.ndlerf.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/monographs/monograph-57.pdf Shelf Number: 135187 Keywords: Alcohol Law EnforcementAlcohol Related Crime, Disorder (Australia)Disorderly ConductDrunk and DisorderlyHarm ReductionNuisance Behaviors |
Author: Nadasdy, Michael Title: Hertfordshire Taxi Marshal Schemes: Evaluation Report Summary: Taxi ranks have always been reported, at least anecdotally, as a focus of disorder in the night time economy. Generally, the people that gather there do so in numbers, at the end of the evening after having consumed alcohol (often to excess). When combined with disagreements as people bump up against each other and jostle for places on the rank it is unsurprising that taxi ranks can be flashpoints for violence and disorder. Any scheme that aims to disperse groups quickly and peacefully away from the night time economy centre should be welcomed. It is widely recognised that a range of initiatives are required in order to tackle the complex issues surrounding consumption of alcohol in the night time economy - from high visibility police patrols to alcohol workers in A and E departments. Taxi Marshalls are considered a valuable part of this range of interventions. With this in mind, Taxi Marshalls were first introduced in Hertfordshire in October 2005. The first marshalled rank was located in St Albans. Subsequent schemes were rolled out in November of the same year (Watford and Hertford), January 2006 (Stevenage) and December 2006 (Hitchin). A further scheme was introduced at Batchwood Hall night club in St Albans in November 2009. The aim of Taxi Marshalls is to reduce incidents of disorder on and around the taxi rank by providing an 'official' presence. Taxi Marshalls are not accredited to the constabulary and have no formal powers however all are Security Industry Authority (SIA) affiliated. The Marshalls have been trained in many aspects of disorder and crowd control such as diffusing aggression and mediation techniques. Details: Hertfordshire, UK: County Community Safety Unit, 2011. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 16, 2015 at: http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/content/committees/55185/55780/56197/56200/Safer-Stronger-DS-12June2012-Item6-AppendixA.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/content/committees/55185/55780/56197/56200/Safer-Stronger-DS-12June2012-Item6-AppendixA.pdf Shelf Number: 135245 Keywords: Alcohol-Related Crime, DisorderAnti-Social Behavior (U.K.)Crime PreventionDisorderly ConductIncivilitiesNight Time EconomyNuisance BehaviorsTaxi Marshalls |
Author: Chevalier, Danielle A.M. Title: Playing It by the Rules: Local Bans on the public use of soft drugs and the production of shared spaces of everyday life Summary: In a nutshell, this book is about formalized social control in public space: it examines the different ways shared public spaces of everyday life are used and perceived, focusing on the manner in which the urge to control such space is operationalized, and how in turn formalized control effects the way space is produced and used. It does so triggered by the investigation of an archetypical Dutch phenomenon: local bans on the public use of soft drugs. Details: Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, 2015. 250p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 30, 2017 at: https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/4502582/161829_GEDRUKT_207758_L_bw_Chevalier_versie_20150520x_complete.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Netherlands URL: https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/4502582/161829_GEDRUKT_207758_L_bw_Chevalier_versie_20150520x_complete.pdf Shelf Number: 148662 Keywords: Disorderly Conduct Drug Enforcement Drug Policy Nuisance BehaviorsPublic Spaces |
Author: Glensor, Ronald W. Title: The Problem of Cruising Summary: This guide begins by describing the problem of cruising, and reviewing factors that contribute to it. It then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze your local cruising problem. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem, and what is known about them from evaluative research and police practice. You should note that while both cruising and street racing involve vehicles, some primary differences exist between them. Cruising is a pastime largely confined to downtown areas; sanctioned cruising can also provide an economic boost to the community. For example, northern Nevada's weeklong "Hot August Nights" event generated $132 million for the cities of Reno and Sparks, with more than 800,000 people attending (RRC Associates 2003). Conversely, street racing is typically an underground affair, causing many related problems. The simplest definition of cruising is "unnecessary repetitive driving." Attempts to legally define cruising have been more difficult, however, as people have successfully challenged anti-cruising ordinances in court on constitutional grounds. Since at least the 1950s, people have cruised for a variety of reasons: to show off their own car, to see other people's cars, to find racing competitors, to impress members of the opposite sex, and to socialize.2 Reinvigorated and glamorized by popular films such as American Graffiti, cruising remains an enormously popular rite of passage for many young people.3 Today's cruisers drive a variety of vehicles: classic cars, pickup trucks, mini-trucks, muscle cars, lowriders (whose chassis narrowly clear the ground), and even motorcycles. Cruisers are particularly prevalent on Friday and Saturday nights, and they can number in the thousands. Among the most common cruisers are the owners of classic, restored and custom cars, who most often view the activity as an opportunity to showcase their automobiles. Among the most common cruisers are the owners of classic, restored and custom cars, who most often view the activity as an opportunity to showcase their automobiles. Credit: Nattalie Hoch But cruising is not purely harmless fun. It creates problems for the police, nonparticipating motorists, some businesses, and the community at large. Among them are conflicts between cruisers (including gang-related violence), littering, noise (from vehicle engines, screeching tires, car stereos, and exuberant fans), traffic congestion (including obstruction of emergency vehicles), traffic crashes, and vandalism and unintentional property damage. While cruising creates business for some merchants, it impedes business for others. In some jurisdictions, cruisers have divided up along racial, ethnic, and subcultural lines: blacks, Hispanics, punkers and heavy metal groups, the cowboy/western set, and so forth. Sometimes these divisions lead to group conflicts and violence, causing injury to participants and innocent bystanders and heightening fear in the wider community. In some jurisdictions, cruising has taken on a "rock concert" environment in which disorder, violence, and police enforcement are integral to the experience, and even expected and desired by the participants. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services: 2004. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Specific Guides Series No. 29: Accessed May 21, 2018 at: http://www.popcenter.org/problems/pdfs/cruising.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.popcenter.org/problems/pdfs/cruising.pdf Shelf Number: 95751 Keywords: Anti-Social BehaviorCruisingNuisance BehaviorsTraffic Violations |
Author: Martin, Christopher Luke Title: Government-housing: governing crime and disorder in public housing in New South Wales Summary: Crime and disorder are prominent problems for social housing authorities. Housing NSW attempts to address problems of crime and disorder in public housing in New South Wales through a diversity of practices that constitute an extensive 'government' of tenants' conduct. In this thesis, I call them practices of 'government-housing'. The historical development of government-housing practices reflects developments in the government of crime and disorder and, more generally, in liberal governmentality. In the nineteenth century, classical liberal reformers first formulated 'the housing question' in terms of the physical and moral improvement of urban workers and the poor; then, in the social liberal governmentality of twentieth century, social housing was built to secure and normalise vulnerable but worthy working class households. From the 1970s to the present, social housing has been problematised, reduced and transformed by advanced liberal governmentality, so that it now houses very poor and needy persons and is continuously engaged in their government as individual subjects and collectively as communities. Advanced liberal government-housing practices reflect the cleavage in contemporary strategies for governing crime and disorder: on one hand, an adaptive strategy that seeks to responsibilise individuals, communities and agencies in new ways, including through reformed techniques of social security, to ameliorate and prevent crime and disorder; and on the other, a strategy of sovereign reaction that denies and reacts against the limits of government through punitive, exclusionary displays. These strategies are confused in Housing NSW's practices of government-housing, and housing officers can switch quickly from the first to the second. The crucial point on which they turn is the subject of the public housing- the 'client'. Housing NSW is committed to 'working with the client' as a subject of qualified agency; however, the operation of the eligibility process constitutes the client differently, as an alternately incapable and crimeprone, then selfishly agentive and blameworthy subject, and this elicits pessimistic, cynical reactionary responses from some housing officers. This pattern is evident in Housing NSW's neighbourhood-level practices of governmenthousing. Housing NSW conducts projects to 'renew' the built form of estates according to principles of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and engage tenants as the 'capable guardians' of their neighbourhoods; the 'CPTED lens', however, can also magnify anxieties and complaints about myriad signs of disorder. Housing NSW also works to 'renew' or fabricate community relations through tenant participation projects and partnerships with other agencies to improve services, but these are difficult projects that may falter on the problematic subjectivity of the client or on unhealthy partnerships. As another means of fabricating community relations, Housing NSW also invokes tenants' contractual obligations under their residential tenancy agreements- inducing expectations of strict liability and enforcement by eviction. Housing NSW is a heavy user of proceedings in relation to all manner of complaints and disputes, and this presents particular risks for its 'working with the client' approach. It responds to some complaints of breach - particularly nuisance and annoyance -with an investigation of the client's support needs that is simultaneously a preparation for proceedings, and housing officers' efforts often end up going in that direction. In relation to other breaches- particularly 'illegal use of premises', and even more particularly involvement in drug offences - Housing NSW seeks nothing less than termination and eviction in proceedings that parallel, and even run ahead of, a criminal prosecution. The confusion of strategies is starkest in a number of innovations on the public housing landlord-tenant legal relationship, such as 'acceptable behaviour agreements', introduced by the State Government over the last decade. These 'new tools' against crime and disorder take a contractual form that appears to further responsibilise tenants, but in substance they empower Housing NSW to 'get tough', impose more rules and evict more readily. These 'new tools', however, have presented such a strain to Housing NSW's ameliorative practices that it has hardly used them at all. The thesis also considers the local level of government-housing and the complications it poses for practice. Here this dimension is presented in an account of the local construction of problems of crime and disorder by tenants and workers on the public housing estate at Riverwood, in southwest Sydney, New South Wales. The 'crime talk' of these tenants and workers speaks to their sense of the estate's place- between middle suburbia and an imaginaty geography of poverty, and between local narratives of reinvention and declineand h"'w they are habituated to the propositions of government-housing at the higher level. Most tenants said they felt safe on the estate, but they also worried over signs of disorder. They reacted against the subjectivity of the client by asserting a sharpened sense of liability, but they also strongly supported community development activities and associated them with their sense of security. Some wished for more conformity, backed by authoritative policing and enforcement of tenancy contracts, but they also doubted whether these approaches could actually work. Public housing, therefore, is distinctively and densely governed, and beset by the tensions and hazards of confused governmental strategies. By identifying these hazards, however, the thesis indicates how Housing NSW might make a clearer strategic commitment to prevention and amelioration, rather than reaction and punitive exclusion. Details: Sydney: University of Sydney, School of Law, 2010. 365p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 3, 2018 at: https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/8577 Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/8577 Shelf Number: 150763 Keywords: Crime Prevention Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Design Against Crime Disorderly Conduct Housing and Crime Nuisance BehaviorsPublic Housing |
Author: Flight, Sander Title: Evaluatie cameratoezicht Amsterdam-Centrum: Effectmeting Wallen en Nieuwendijkkwartier Summary: In the municipality of Amsterdam, since 2000 experiments have been done with camera surveillance in the public space. Since 2000, projects have started on it August Allebeplein and the Belgieplein in Slotervaart / Overtoomse Veld and in the Crow's Nest in Southeast. Of these projects in 2003 an extensive evaluation report. The city council decided on this basis camera surveillance, under conditions, to be further expanded in the city. Since February 2004 there are also cameras on the Red Light District and the Nieuwendijk in the Stadsdeel-Centrum. Because these two locations are unique, the municipality again instructed DSP group to evaluate the (desired and unwanted) effects of camera surveillance. Comparison between 2003 and 2004 In this report, the results of the baseline measurement of June 2003 are compared with the effect measurement of June 2004. Through surveys, police records and in-depth interviews with experts are the changes in objective and subjective safety measured. The question of whether the cameras lead to a displacement of crime and nuisance also receives a lot of attention. Next this effect evaluation is a process evaluation that provides insight into the organizational and policy-related state of affairs. It is the intention to take another measurement in June 2005 to see to what extent observed effects last. There is a fundamental problem with evaluating preventive resources such as camera surveillance. You try to find out if something is not happened. Then you try a causal explanation for those 'nong events' to give: an impossible task. Camera surveillance is also never 'bald' introduced: other measures have been introduced at the same time, such as extra physical supervision by the police. There can never be indisputable be proven to be a decrease (or an increase) in crime caused by camera surveillance. In recent years, methods have been developed to still be a good evaluation can perform under these conditions. The most important thing is it using as many different sources of information as possible (residents, visitors, entrepreneurs, police, municipality, district) and research methods (surveys, interviews, observation, registrations, logbooks). There are for this evaluation no less than two thousand surveys were held among residents, passers-by and entrepreneurs in and next to the camera locations. beside have conducted in-depth interviews with dozens of politicians, civil servants, police officers and other stakeholders, such as residents, drug addicts and entrepreneurs. Thirdly, an analysis has been carried out on police records from the area. Also are the logs of the camera supervisors behind the camera and from the police requested and analyzed. Finally, all kinds of documents such as safety plans, project plans, municipalities notes and other evaluations of camera surveillance. The the moment of this research is not ideal. The effect measurement is actually held in June 2004, while the cameras were only four months old. At interpreting the outcomes must be taken into account the fact that the effect measurement was kept relatively early. Another condition for a reliable evaluation, there is a fairly long period in between the baseline measurement and the effect measurement. Outcomes of some evaluations have shown that camera surveillance is sometimes a kind shock effect in the first few months after introduction. Also for that reason is a third measurement in June 2005 desirable. The project in short There are a total of 26 cameras in this area: 10 in the Nieuwendijk district and 16 on the Red Light District. A monitor room has been set up at the Beursstraat desk where the images are recorded 24 hours a day and stored for three days. Two employees watch between 19 o'clock in the evening and 3 o'clock at night from the City Control Service live to the images and report incidents that they observe it to the police. Pictures can also be requested afterwards be added to a file by the police and as evidence. Details: Amsterdam: DSP-groep, 2004. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 14, 2018 at: http://publicaties.dsp-groep.nl/getFile.cfm?file=1sfbinnen_Evaluatie%20cameratoezicht%20Amsterdam%20Centrum.pdf&dir=rapport Year: 2004 Country: Netherlands URL: http://publicaties.dsp-groep.nl/getFile.cfm?file=1sfbinnen_Evaluatie%20cameratoezicht%20Amsterdam%20Centrum.pdf&dir=rapport Shelf Number: 150874 Keywords: Camera Surveillance Cameras CCTV Displacement of Crime Nuisance BehaviorsSituational Crime Prevention (Amsterdam) Video Surveillance |
Author: New South Wales. Audit Office Title: Managing antisocial behaviour in public housing Summary: In recent decades, policy makers and legislators in Australian states and territories have developed and implemented initiatives to manage antisocial behaviour in public housing environments. All jurisdictions now have some form of legislation or policy to encourage public housing tenants to comply with rules and obligations of 'good neighbourliness'. In November 2015, the NSW Parliament changed legislation to introduce a new approach to manage antisocial behaviour in public housing. This approach is commonly described as the 'strikes' approach. When introduced in the NSW Parliament, the 'strikes' approach was described as a means to: - improve the behaviour of a minority of tenants engaging in antisocial behaviour - create better, safer communities for law-abiding tenants, including those who are ageing and vulnerable. FACS has a number of tasks as a landlord, including a responsibility to collect rent and organise housing maintenance. FACS also has a role to support tenants with complex needs and manage antisocial behaviour. These roles have some inherent tensions. The FACS antisocial behaviour management policy aims are: to balance the responsibilities of tenants, the rights of their neighbours in social housing, private residents and the broader community with the need to support tenants to sustain their public housing tenancies. This audit assessed the efficiency and effectiveness of the 'strikes' approach to managing antisocial behaviour in public housing environments. We examined whether: - the approach is being implemented as intended and leading to improved safety and security in social housing environments - FACS and its partner agencies have the capability and capacity to implement the approach - there are effective mechanisms to monitor, report and progressively improve the approach. Details: Sydney: NSW Audit Office, 2018. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: Performance Audit: Accessed August 15, 2018 at: https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/publications/latest-reports/managing-antisocial-behaviour-in-public-housing Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/publications/latest-reports/managing-antisocial-behaviour-in-public-housing Shelf Number: 151136 Keywords: Anti-Social Behavior Disorderly Conduct Housing and Crime Nuisance BehaviorsPublic Housing |
Author: Fisher, Henry Title: Night Lives: Reducing Drug-Related Harm in the Night Time Economy Summary: The UK's night time economy is failing to protect its most valuable asset: the people who go out and enjoy it. Night Lives: Reducing Drug-Related Harm in the Night Time Economy, a joint report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform, Durham University, The Loop and Volteface, advocates for the adoption of a set of bold yet practical initiatives across our towns and cities to address this failure. Aimed at stakeholders including the night time industry, local authorities, police forces and public health, Night Lives offers new ideas for reducing drug-related harm in the UK's night time economy (NTE). The history of drug-related harm in the NTE reveals that drug-related deaths have acted as a catalyst for most policy and licensing developments relating to drugs, whether progressive, such as Manchester City Council's early adoption of Newcombe's Safer Dancing Guidelines, or regressive, such as the repeated attempts to close Fabric in London. This report bucks that trend. Drug-related deaths due to ecstasy and cocaine continue to rise and are at their highest since records began, while hospital admissions due to these drugs have risen dramatically in recent years. Admissions for cocaine alone have increased by 90 percent since 2011. This rise is seen despite drug usage rates remaining broadly consistent over the same time period. Our clubs and bars, once at the forefront of creating safer dancing environments, now find themselves relying on guidance that is over two decades out of date. A refocusing of national drug policy and resources away from harm reduction has left our night life environments more vulnerable to drug-related harm than ever. Licensing fears and landmark closures have left venues obliged to harden their 'zero tolerance' rhetoric towards drugs, leaving them ill-equipped to deal with the unavoidable realities of drug use. Alongside the post-austerity squeeze on public services, many local authorities and police forces fail to acknowledge their role in protecting the public from drug-related harm, directing responsibility towards licence holders. The UK's drug market is rapidly evolving, with common street drugs continuing to increase in strength and purity, an ever-widening array of substances in circulation, and misselling and adulteration a major and growing public health concern. Combined with this, we have a new generation of recreational drug users, many of whom are less familiar with the basic harm reduction practices of previous generations. Night Lives documents the substantial costs resulting from this failure to address drug-related harm. The burden on hospital Accident and Emergency departments from incidents associated with club drugs has more than doubled in the last four years, while disorder in the NTE relating to poor drug use practices, often exacerbated by co-consumption of alcohol, is also estimated to have increased dramatically. Every drug-related death that occurs in the NTE, as well as being a tragedy in its own right, requires significant police resources, including a week of police time, and costs in excess of L10,000 of taxpayers' money. Such incidents are often the trigger that leads to the closure of venues, the city centre hubs for young and not-so-young adult community engagement, such as London's Fabric, Birmingham's Rainbow and Glasgow's Arches, and to other venues remaining precarious to closure, such as the UK's dramatically decreasing number of LGBTQ venues. The social, economic and cultural costs are substantial, but could be vastly reduced by the implementation of effective harm reduction initiatives such as those recommended in this report. Based on in-depth interviews with over 50 key stakeholders, this report concludes that the major perceived barriers to implementation of initiatives to reduce drug-related harm can be overcome through partnership working and a greater understanding of their wider positive impact among all stakeholders. The report also recommends the introduction of four key initiatives for the night time economies of our towns and cities: Drug safety testing services available to the general public in night life districts; An independent information campaign on reducing drug-related harm; Training for night life staff in how to respond effectively to drug use in the NTE; The adoption of the UK festival drug policy of '3Ps: Prevent, Pursue, Protect' in licensed venues. The report identifies the perceived barriers to implementation of these initiatives for stakeholders in the NTE and presents solutions to these barriers. Night Lives demonstrates that these initiatives: Strengthen the ability of venues to uphold the objectives of the Licensing Act 2003, promoting both public safety and the prevention of crime; Provide a distinctive and effective means of reducing drug and alcohol-related harm; Promote orderly and vibrant night life environments; Reduce the workload of security staff, police and health services that work in the NTE; Promote partnership working between industry and other stakeholders; Add value to local public health strategies by addressing wider public health concerns beyond club drug use to 'make every contact count', and by providing a valuable point of contact for a demographic that rarely engages with public services. Details: London: Volteface, 2018. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Access September 14, 2018 at: http://volteface.me/app/uploads/2018/07/Night-Lives-PDF.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://volteface.me/app/uploads/2018/07/Night-Lives-PDF.pdf Shelf Number: 151523 Keywords: Disorderly Conduct Drug Abuse Drug-Related Harm Drunk and Disorderly Conduct Incivilities Night Time Economy Nuisance Behaviors |