Law Commission President gets first hand experience of dealing with alcohol-related crime.

Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Inspector Brian McGurk during their night-time patrol in Nelson’s Bridge Street. Photo: Sus Roberts

The Law Commission took a hands-on approach to understanding the impact of alcohol on police’s role in the community recently when Commission President Sir Geoffrey Palmer accompanied police on two night shifts in central Wellington and Nelson.

The Law Commission has the role of reviewing the framework for the sale and supply of liquor.

A night out in Wellington between 11pm and 4am showed Sir Geoffrey what a typical Saturday night looks like for Team Policing, under the charge of Senior Sergeant Simon Feltham.

Along with Wellington District’s Emergency Response Manager, Inspector Simon Perry, Simon showed Sir Geoffrey the highlights of licensing and enforcement in the CBD.

While in Nelson, Sir Geoffrey accompanied Area Commander Inspector Brian McGurk as he did compliance checks through Bridge Street licensing establishments and public carparks where people were breaching the liquor ban between 10pm and midnight.

The amount of police time taken up with alcohol-related offending, as documented in the recently released National Alcohol Assessment (www.police.govt.nz/resources/2009/Police-National-Alcohol-Assessment.pdf) shocked Sir Geoffrey. “It is very hard to resist the argument that excess alcohol consumption is causing a lot of problems for police in New Zealand,” he says.

“The law must be adjusted so police are put under less pressure and are not required to waste so many resources on activities that are readily preventable. From what I’ve seen in the early hours of the morning, there are some pretty ugly features out there currently, backing up the police data that Friday and Saturday nights have the biggest impact on offending where alcohol is involved.”

Sus Roberts, Senior Policy Advisor, PNHQ, has been seconded to work as a Police member of the Law Commission’s Sale of Liquor Act review team in Wellington for 12 months. Along with Cate Brett from the Law Commission, Sus has undertaken visits and ride-alongs with night-shifts around provincial and metropolitan New Zealand.

Sus says they have seen some excellent police initiatives around the country, including the Far North Alcohol team in Whangārei, Counties Manukau’s District Licensing Team, Christchurch’s Alcohol Strategy and Enforcement Team and Palmerston North’s recent agreement to adopt a joint approach to tackling alcohol-related harm.