Did a local clean indoor air policy increase alcohol-related crime around bars and restaurants?

Abstract

Objective To evaluate whether the adoption of a local clean indoor air (CIA) policy in St. Paul, Minnesota, was associated with changes in alcohol-related crimes outside on-premises alcohol-licensed businesses. Design The enactment of a comprehensive CIA policy on 31 March 2006 was used as the intervention time point in an interrupted time-series analysis to assess changes in weekly crime frequency prior to the policy enactment compared with the period after the policy was established (n=261 weeks). Setting St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Subjects On-premise alcohol-licensed business addresses were collected from St. Paul, Minnesota, for the period of January 2003 to December 2007, and geocoded. A 500-foot (152.4 m) buffer was drawn around each business. Main outcome measures Alcohol-related crime (ie, arrest) data were obtained from the St. Paul Police Department; crimes had been geocoded by the police department. They were aggregated by week to include only those crimes that occurred within the drawn buffer. Relevant types of crimes included serious (eg, aggravated assaults, homicide, robbery, rape and theft) and less serious (eg, lesser assault, fighting, noise violations, public drunkenness/lewdness or other liquor law violations) crimes. Results Within a buffer of 500 foot of alcohol-licensed businesses, 23 978 serious alcohol-related crimes and 49 560 less serious alcohol-related crimes occurred over 5 years. Using interrupted time-series analyses to compare the weekly alcohol-related crime frequency in proximity with the bars and restaurants, we found no significant change in either type of crime associated with the local comprehensive CIA policy (p=0.13) after adjustment for seasonal differences and overall crime frequencies. Conclusions Evidence from this study suggests that alcohol-related crimes were not significantly affected by a local comprehensive CIA policy that banned smoking in public workplaces in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Is Restricting Sales of Malt Liquor Beverages Effective in Reducing Crime in Urban Areas?

“…We also used geographic information systems technology to geocode off-premise alcohol outlet addresses and create the buffers (geocoding rate = 100%). Based on prior research, we anticipated that differences in crime outcomes within this small geographic area could be reasonably attributed to the policies being studied; similar geographic areas have been defined in other studies Klein et al, 2013;Murray & Roncek, 2008). Comparison off-premise outlets included outlets that were located in similar demographic areas in the same city, but without malt liquor restrictions.…”

A systematic review of interventions that impact alcohol and other drug-related harms in licensed entertainment settings and outdoor music festivals

“…There were 28 studies evaluating stand-alone interventions that included the introduction of laws or liquor licensing regulations, such as one-way door policies, changes in trading hours, liquor sale restrictions, or risk-based licensing (RBL) schemes [ 25 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 64 , 67 , 81 , 83 , 87 , 88 , 91 – 93 , 98 , 104 , 108 , 112 , 115 , 116 , 119 , 122 , 125 , 129 , 130 , 135 , 139 , 141 ]. Of these studies, 22 were quantitative [ 25 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 64 , 67 , 81 , 83 , 87 , 88 , 91 , 93 , 98 , 104 , 108 , 112 , 116 , 122 , 125 , 129 , 130 , 135 ], 4 used mixed methods designs [ 57 , 92 , 116 , 119 ], and 2 were qualitative [ 139 , 141 ]. Of the 22 quantitative studies, 17 were rated as strong using the EPHPP [ 25 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 64 , 67 , 81 , 87 ,…”

“…Of these studies, 22 were quantitative [ 25 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 64 , 67 , 81 , 83 , 87 , 88 , 91 , 93 , 98 , 104 , 108 , 112 , 116 , 122 , 125 , 129 , 130 , 135 ], 4 used mixed methods designs [ 57 , 92 , 116 , 119 ], and 2 were qualitative [ 139 , 141 ]. Of the 22 quantitative studies, 17 were rated as strong using the EPHPP [ 25 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 64 , 67 , 81 , 87 , 91 , 93 , 98 , 104 , 108 , 112 , 122 , 125 , 135 ], 4 were rated as moderate [ 83 , 88 , 129 , 130 ], and 1 was rated as weak [ 115 ]. Three of the four mixed methods studies were given a moderate EPHPP rating [ 92 , 116 , 119 ], and one was rated weak [ 57 ].…”

“…Three of the four mixed methods studies were given a moderate EPHPP rating [ 92 , 116 , 119 ], and one was rated weak [ 57 ]. Eleven studies reported on health outcomes [ 25 , 53 , 54 , 57 , 64 , 67 , 81 , 104 , 119 , 135 , 141 ], 18 studies reported on criminal justice outcomes (particularly assaults) [ 25 , 56 , 57 , 87 , 88 , 91 – 93 , 98 , 108 , 112 , 115 , 116 , 119 , 122 , 125 , 129 , 139 ], and 4 studies reported on behavioral outcomes [ 83 , 116 , 130 , 139 ]. Additional studies examined the effectiveness of some of the stand-alone interventions listed above as part of multicomponent interventions in Sydney, Newcastle and Queensland, Australia; see multicomponent interventions sub-Sects. "…”

“…Mixed results were also reported regarding sexual assaults, with Forsyth and colleagues [ 139 ] reporting an increase in sexual assaults in Scotland, while no change was reported following the introduction of a ban in Minnesota, USA. [ 93 ]. Forsyth and colleagues [ 139 ] also reported mixed findings for behavioral outcomes, observing an increase in risky alcohol consumption practices, and a decrease in overcrowding in licensed venues following a ban.…”