NCJ Number
201124
Date Published
2001
Length
182 pages
Annotation
This study addressed the relationship between public consumption of beer and adult serious crime.
Abstract
The research began as a case study sponsored by the Stillwater Police Department (Oklahoma) in an effort to control large, highly intoxicated crowds after sporting events and during annual street parties. The study began with a review of local historical events, with attention to two distinct annual street parties. Because Stillwater enacted public beer-drinking prohibitions, overturned the prohibitions, and then re-enacted a similar law, the research included an examination of crime rates before, during, and after the prohibition. After the Stillwater study, the research focused on Ponca City, OK, which was similar to Stillwater in allowing public beer drinking. The researcher conducted non-participant observation of various bars in Ponca City to provide a comparison to the Stillwater data. Finally, the study compiled a list of communities with similar public-drinking prohibitions and repeated the statistical comparison of crime rates before and after prohibitions. These communities were in the States of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and California, with most of the communities being in Oklahoma. The study findings suggest that aggressively enforcing public drinking prohibitions with real but not burdensome punishment apparently decreases serious crime. Further research is needed when police records become more complete through computerization. Further research should also examine the enforcement of other nuisance laws in addition to public-drinking prohibitions. The findings further suggest that community policing techniques by officers working in close contact with citizens on foot, horseback, or bicycle constitutes an effective enforcement strategy in reducing public beer drinking and the link to serious crime. 19 tables, 4 figures, 111 references, and appended relevant local ordinances for the communities studied