I am little sceptical about the science behind this story, but it’s been published on the BBC so hopefully it is based on mildly reliable information.
It has been reported today that a new scheme is to be piloted in England and Wales to combat the volume and massive cost to the public purse of drink related offending. ‘Sobriety Orders’ will soon be available as part of a Suspended Sentence or Community Order imposed by a court on conviction for a variety of offences including, amongst others, Public Order Act offences and Criminal Damage.
Proposed powers will allow offenders to be ordered to wear an ankle bracelet (similar to the tag used to monitor curfew compliance) for a period of up to four months. This new type of tag is supposedly able to allow the monitoring of alcohol levels in the wearer throughout that period to monitor compliance. There will be an additional power attached to any order allowing on-the-spot breath testing to be completed by Police Officers at specific times (such as at weekends if this is considered relevant to the pattern of offending).
It is reported that the tags will be able to monitor alcohol levels at half-hourly intervals, although I am unsure how this can be accomplished through nothing more than tag-to-skin contact. The other alternative proposed is that offenders will be required to attend a Police station for testing at specific times – although with most of our stations being closed due to budget cuts, this will be increasingly difficult to achieve or enforce.
Of course, with new scheme, additional legislation is required and we are not to be disappointed on this front. An amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is being considered to provide powers in relation to the new scheme.
Speaking to the BBC, Justice Minister Nick Herbert said, ‘Alcohol-fuelled violence and criminality causes mayhem in our towns and city centres. These new Sobriety Orders will allow us to tackle this problem more effectively and demand that binge-drinkers who commit crime sober up.’
Personally I would prefer to have enough officers on the street to prevent these people being criminalised in the first place. Intervention is, in my book, better for many low-level offenders than prosecution. Still, if that’s the way they want to play it….
