Police in England are using social media to give the public a better understanding of the extent and impact of alcohol-related crime.
One weekend last month, police in Devon and Cornwall, areas that attract thousands of seaside visitors each weekend, took to Twitter to chronicle the toll alcohol-related incidents take on law enforcement and emergency services.
Using the hashtag #alcoholharm, the real-time posts about drink drivers, accidents, assaults, fights, and arrests highlighted the magnitude of problems communities deal with around alcohol, particularly on weekend evenings. They also included informational Tweets about the alcohol content in typical drinks, how long it takes the body to metabolize alcohol, and what constitutes high-risk drinking. In all, the police reported 102 people in custody and 867 alcohol incidents during the Friday and Saturday evenings of the “Tweetathon.”
#alcoholharm Large fight in Camborne, 1 person was assaulted, 2 people arrested. Ambulance supported @swasFT at this and a number of others
— DevonCornwall Police (@DC_Police) September 21, 2014
#alcoholharm vehicle rolled on its side, driver arrested for drink driving, luckily no one hurt #knowyourlimits pic.twitter.com/RL7XAP6uGk — DevonCornwall Police (@DC_Police) September 21, 2014
Savvy law enforcement agencies have been using Twitter to engage and inform the public for years. When it comes to alcohol-involved crime, departments have been known to Tweet the names and pictures of arrested drunk drivers, and many use their feeds to promote impaired driving awareness messages. But the Devon and Cornwall event was unique in its real-time, all-inclusive approach. Local news reports that as much as 40 percent of all calls to police during Friday and Saturday nights are related to alcohol.
In the U.S., most people associate alcohol crime with drunk driving. But in fact, there are 2.8 million alcohol-related arrests each year in this country for a wide range of offenses, including domestic violence, disorderly conduct, and underage drinking. Do you think social media can help raise public awareness about the impact of alcohol in the U.S.?
