According to Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione alcohol fuelled crimes are up and are taking a huge amount of the police’s time and resources. The Commissioner says the police are spending around 70 per cent of their human resources on alcohol related crime in NSW, an issue that will feature high on the agenda at the 6th Australian Drug and Alcohol Strategy Conference which will begin on Wednesday.
The conference will aim to tackle issues in Australia relating to alcohol abuse. The Commissioner who kickstarted the conference told the press that police spent most of their time dealing with offenders, victims and motorists in incidents induced by alcohol.
It is interesting that Mr Scipione said the number of young people binge drinking was lower but those who were still binge drinking were consuming even larger amounts of alcohol. The Commissioner has urged parents and fathers in particular to educate their kids about the dangers of binge drinking and how to drink moderately and responsibly before they even reach their teen years.
Read what this post from News.com.au says about the Commissioner’s complaints:
ALCOHOL-RELATED crime takes up 70 per cent of all police work in NSW, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says.
The 6th Australian Drug and Alcohol Strategy Conference kicked off on Wednesday in Sydney with top police brass and academics to deliver presentations and share ideas over the next three days.
After opening the conference, Mr Scipione told reporters that police on the streets spent the majority of their time dealing with offenders, victims and motorists in incidents that involved alcohol.
“The reality is about 70 per cent of police time on the streets … is in some way connected to the abuse or misuse of alcohol,” he said.
“Alcohol is the number one issue on the agenda for police commissioners across this nation.”
Mr Scipione said the number of people under the age of 25 who were binge drinking was in decline but those who engaged in heavy drinking were consuming larger amounts of alcohol.
He stressed that parents, especially fathers, should educate their children about alcohol before they became teenagers.
An interesting issue highlighted by the Police Commissioner is the role of parents in educating young people about alcohol before they are old enough to make mistakes involving alcohol. Some of the worst case scenarios that can result from teen drinking is binge drinking, drink driving and unsafe sex which is why abstinence is best for teenagers.
Particularly in Australia alcohol is tolerated as socially acceptable but it should be remembered that it is still a drug. It should be noted that alcohol is responsible for most drug-related deaths in the teenage population in Oz and many other countries around the world.
Additionally alcohol can be associated with a variety of serious health risks which for a teenagers developing body can be detrimental. It’s difficult to prevent teenagers from experimenting with alcohol, but parents can encourage sensible drinking habits.