|
 In the News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3/10/04
CONTACT: Aaron Brower, (608) 263‑3838, ambrower@wisc.edu
PACE: SERIOUS ALCOHOL-RELATED CRIME INCREASES
MADISON | A voluntary effort by downtown bars to limit drink specials on Friday
and Saturday nights has been inconclusive and serious alcohol-related crime continues
to rise.
The findings come from a new analysis of downtown police calls in Madison from
the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s PACE Coalition. The group conducted
the study as part of an evaluation of a 2002 Tavern League voluntary limit on drink
specials after 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
The voluntary effort began in September 2002 with 25 downtown bars that pledged
not to offer or advertise drink specials. After one year, 19 continue to do so.
There are a total of 52 bars and 168 liquor licenses in the downtown area.
It is not clear whether the voluntary limits had any impact on the number of
downtown police calls, says Aaron Brower, the project’s principal investigator
and a UW–Madison professor of social work.
“If the voluntary restrictions that the bars tried had any effect at all —
positive or negative — it was swamped by the increases in problems going on in
the downtown area,” says Brower. “Most troubling, our data show that
the most serious offenses have increased the most.”
The study found:
 Downtown
disorderly conducts, made up of serious incidents such as fights, aggravated batteries
and assaults, have risen the most comparing the 2001–2002 academic year to the
2002–2003 academic year.
Calls for those incidents jumped 35.6 percent from Thursday to Saturday as compared
to a 6.2 percent rise citywide. Thursday nights saw a 26 percent increase, Friday
nights saw a 38 percent increase, and Saturday nights saw a 38.4 percent increase. |
Incidents
of disorderly conduct from 9 pm to 4 am; includes fights, batteries,
disorderly conducts, trespassing, and threats/harassment.
|
 |
| Downtown
citations for liquor law violations decreased 1.8 percent from Thursday through
Saturday nights as compared to a decrease of 14.9 percent citywide. Downtown liquor
law violations jumped 40.4 percent on Thursday nights, decreased 22.3 percent
Friday nights, and increased 6.8 percent on Saturday nights during the 2001–2002
to 2002–2003 period. |
Incidents
of liquor law violations from 9 pm to 4 am; includes trips to detox,
fake identification, consumption by underage drinkers, open intoxicants on public
property, and underage persons in licensed premises.
|
|
| Downtown
vandalism rose 1.2 percent across Thursday through Saturday nights while it jumped
almost 23 percent across the city. Downtown vandalism increased 27.8 percent on
Thursday nights, decreased 28.8 percent on Friday nights, and increased 22.4 percent
on Saturday nights. |
Incidents
of vandalism from 9 pm to 4 am; includes defacing property and damage
to residential property, buildings, and automobiles.
|
|
The study showed no significant increases in alcohol-related incidents anywhere
else in the city, including in the student housing areas known for large house
parties.
Despite inconclusive results from the voluntary limits, PACE continues to advocate
limits on drink specials. National studies show that cheap alcohol fuels over-consumption.
Brower says that over-consumption is directly linked to crimes such as vandalism,
fights and sexual assault.
“We continue to believe that these crimes in the downtown area are fueled
by cheap alcohol readily available there,” Brower says.
“Especially with all of the new residential and cultural development
downtown, the city still has its work cut out for it when attempting to change
the environment around alcohol,” he adds.
PACE will continue to push for policy changes that are likely to have large
impacts, including examination of alcohol pricing and advertising, viable alternatives
to drinking, safe house parties, and other “best practices” recently
recommended to Madison’s Alcohol License Review Committee.
Formerly known as the RWJ Project, PACE (which stands for Policy, Alternatives,
Community and Education) is in the seventh year of a comprehensive campus community
partnership designed to reduce the negative consequences of high-risk drinking.
PACE DATA INFORMATION
Downtown
crime data: Assembled by compiling liquor law violations, disorderly conducts
and vandalism incident information from the Madison Police Department. The incidents
included students, Madison residents and visitors.
In
September 2002, 25 downtown taverns pledged not to offer drink specials on Friday
and Saturday nights, from 8 p.m. until closing. After one year, 19 continue to
do so. The downtown area contains a total of 52 bars and 168 liquor licenses.
Although
voluntary limits did not extend to Thursday night, the night was included in the
evaluation as a heavy drinking night and as a comparison to the voluntary restriction
nights.
The
MPD did not report any systematic changes in enforcement levels and reporting
methods between 2001 and 2003.
The
data includes downtown, consisting of the Isthmus, bounded by N. Brooks St. on
the west to Franklin St. on the east. The area includes all of the UW– Madison
campus area, W. Washington and Langdon Streets, but excludes Regent St.
The
reporting year used runs from beginning of September to the end of August.
Liquor
law violation incidents include trips to detox, fake identification, underage
person consuming, open intoxicants on public property, intoxicated persons and
underage persons in licensed premises.
Disorderly
conduct incidents include fights, batteries, aggravated batteries, disorderly
conducts, trespassing and threats/harassment.
Vandalism
incidents includes defacing property, damage to residential property, buildings
and automobiles.
John Lucas , jplucas@wisc.edu, (608)
262‑8287
|
