You don't need to watch the news to know that alcohol abuse is one of the biggest drivers of violent crime and traumatic death in our society. And binge drinking is facilitated by lax law enforcement. But, not anymore, not if the new Commissioner has anything to do with it.
Chester Williams says he is serious about cracking down on alcohol abuse and that's what's behind a police memorandum sent to all formations last week. It calls for "strict enforcement" of liquor license laws and lists 29 offenses that establishments can be charged for.
It also directs commanders to get an updated lists of all liquor license holder sin their areas and directs them to bring charges for breaches of the law and to make it a priority in reporting these violations to headquarters.
Previously, alcohol related offences were not given priority either in enforcement, reporting or prosecutions. Now, the senior command is requiring heads of formations to report throughly and continuously on these cases. Police have never been able to offer statistics on how many traffic and violent deaths can be tied to alcohol abuse.
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