The county’s most senior police officer has said the time has come to be “less tolerant” or people who binge drink and cause late-night trouble in town centres.
Last night, a Northamptonshire Police initiative was rolled out across 24 other forces to highlight the problem of booze fuelled disorder across the country.
Officers up and down the country joined those in Northampton to post tweets on social networking site Twitter, all using the hashtag #alcoholharm, to highlight the sort of alcohol-related incidents police week in, week out.
Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police Adrian Lee is the ACPO lead for alcohol and led the activity in the county.
He called for a debate to start on alcohol.
Mr Lee said: “By using Twitter to provide a live feed of policing activities I wanted to raise people’s awareness of the types of incidents that police attend which are due to people who have drunk too much.
“The evening has highlighted the number of officers across the country who regularly attend incidents of anti-social behaviour and more serious crimes, all due to alcohol.
“The right question to ask is; is this the best use of our resources?
“I recognise that alcohol can be beneficial and enjoyable, however, I do wonder if the time has come for us all to become less tolerant of people who do not take personal responsibility for their own wellbeing and health.”
Police say almost 50 per cent of all violent crime is alcohol related, with drink related anti-social behaviour the most common.
Almost 50 per cent of domestic abuse cases are believed to happen when the attacker is drunk.
Mr Lee added: “I am keen to highlight these issues for discussion and debate.
“It is really important that communities better understand, influence and help to create a safer drinking culture which will benefit us all.”
Tweets from the evening included:
“Officers speaking with small group in #northampton giving a section 27 to leave the area, one too drunk to stand #alcoholharm.”
“One arrested for being drunk in a public place #alcoholharm probably not how he saw his evening ending...”
“Group of lads unhappy at being asked to leave a club in #northampton officers attending to prevent #alcoholharm.”
“Man found worse for wear lying in a village street - #alcoholharm not just confined to our town centres”
“1 more in custody, a volatile female this time, she was running around a hotel reception in her nightware in a drunken state #alcoholharm.”
“One of the last incidents I heard being deployed to this morning was 8 people fighting outside of a pub... at 6:20am!! #alcoholharm”
“Officers attended a noisy party at a home address - told ‘its ok, we’re stopping now, just about to go into town’ #allnightlong #alcoholharm”
“Male attempted to assault me after being refused entry. Failed miserably. Then ran off down the street! #alcoholharm”
“Man being checked into mobile custody suite. His friend came to ask if he could take a photo to put on Facebook. We said no... #alcoholharm”