Commentary on Kypri et al. (2011): Fighting the good fight against alcohol-related violence: one bar or one hour at a time?

摘要

Some years ago I had the privilege of joining the plain-clothes Perth Liquor Squad on a late-night tour of violent bars. I am sure I looked very much out of place, but two managers mistook me for a member of the force. Incredibly, one asked me to break up a fight-I referred this request on. A second asked us what we would like to drink and was clearly stunned when we all asked for lemonades. I later learned that the venue was reputed to have a special bar reserved for the Squad, where they were served food and alcohol. For this kind of reason-and a host of others such as poor training, inadequate resources, poorly worded legislation and a heavy drinking culture [1]-I suggest that law enforcement approaches alone are inadequate to address the problem of bar violence. We clearly need effective universal strategies such as restricted trading hours and outlet densities.