PRESS RELEASE

Police have seized over 2300 litres of alcohol during a seasonal booze blitz.

A total of 2305 litres of booze was taken off Scotland’s streets during the three week crackdown, part of a bid to reduce violence and anti-social behaviour in the run up to the festive season.

The blitz is the latest phase in the ongoing Safer Scotland anti-violence campaign, co-ordinated by the national Violence Reduction Unit.

The alcohol phase has seen police aim to reduce the amount of alcohol getting into the hands of underage drinkers and highlight the dangers of agent purchase – where adults knowingly buy alcohol on behalf of under 18s.

As part of the campaign a national test purchasing scheme – whereby underage volunteers attempt to buy alcohol - was launched by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and Assistant Chief Constable Ian Dickinson from ACPOS. Of the 300 off licence premises visited across Scotland, 30 sold goods to underage test purchasers. The scheme will continue to run throughout Scotland following the end of the alcohol phase of Safer Scotland.
Officers also targeted street drinking by all age groups using local byelaws. Some 331 males and 84 females under the age of 18 and 468 males and 58 females over the age of 18 were detected as a result of this operation.
Forces have worked closely with Community Safety Partnerships and Alcohol Action Teams throughout the phase, ensuring it goes to the heart of the local communities. This partnership working is now set to continue as an example of good practice.

Safer Scotland co-ordinator Detective Chief Inspector Andy McKay said:
“Communities across Scotland are blighted by drink related violence. The responses of forces across the country during this phase of the campaign clearly show that such behaviour will not be tolerated, wherever and whenever it happens.”

He added that the tough stance towards booze-fuelled violence would continue and called for communities to let police know if there were off licences in their area that were serving underage customers.

“Just because this phase of the campaign has ended does not mean the police will be any less tough on those who flout the law. There will be no let up in the fight against alcohol related violence – now or in the future. We will come down hard on those who think it is acceptable to be violent towards others while blind drunk.

“All the good practice learnt during this phase will now be built into standard police procedure, enabling us to tackle this problem even more effectively in 2008. We are also doing our best to encourage kids to find an alternative to hanging about street corners drinking”.

The phase was backed by an additional £1m government funding which was pledged by Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill at the Safer Scotland Weapons & Alcohol Fuelled Violence Conference held on 26th September in Edinburgh.

Mr MacAskill said:
“There’s no doubt that alcohol misuse has a terrible effect on too many Scots and the communities they live in. The consequences for our health service, criminal justice system and the economy are all too clear as is the fact that far too many under18s continue to be able to get their hands on alcohol.

“That’s why it’s great to see this VRU led campaign has been so successful – 2300 litres of alcohol taken off the streets in three weeks is a real result. There’s no room for complacency, however, and forces across Scotland will be building on this campaign to keep up the good work – for example through test purchasing of alcohol or initiatives delivered through the extra £1 million that the Government provided to Community Safety Partnerships to tackle alcohol fuelled violence - to make Scotland safer and stronger.”