Does Increasing Community and Liquor Licensees’ Awareness, Police Activity, and Feedback Reduce Alcohol-Related Violent Crime? A Benefit-Cost Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Method
2.1. Study Sample
2.2. Study Design
2.3. Data Sources
2.3.1. Crime Data
2.3.2. Household Data
2.4. Surrogate Measures
2.4.1. Violent Crimes Typically Alcohol-Related
2.4.2. Times in Which Violent Crimes Are Most Likely to Be Alcohol-Related
2.5. Selection of Problematic Weekends
2.6. Multi-Component Intervention
2.7. Statistical Analyses
2.8. Economic Costs and Benefits
2.8.1. Intervention Costs
2.8.2. Intervention Benefits
2.8.3. Benefit-Cost Ratios
2.8.4. Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Community Characteristics and Number of Problematic Weekends
Covariate | Experimental (n = 10) | Control (n = 10) |
---|---|---|
Mean (95% CI) | Mean (95% CI) | |
% young males (15–24 year olds) | 6.0 (5.6–6.5) | 5.9 (5.5–6.4) |
% indigenous | 5.7 (3.7–7.7) | 5.4 (2–8.7) |
Socioeconomic indicator (SEIFA disadvantage decile) [29] | 3.5 (2.7–4.3) | 3.3 (2.2–4.4) |
Pubs/clubs a | 11.1 (8.3–14.0) | 9.9 (7.1–12.6) |
Other licensees a | 13.4 (9.9–17.0) | 14.3 (10.3–18.4) |
Police officers a | 14.2 (11.0–17.5) | 22.4 (12.5–32.3) |
Remoteness indicator (ARIA score) | 2.9 (2.5–3.3) | 2.9 (1.4–4.4) |
% risky drinkers b | 26.0 (23.0–29.0) | 29.1 (25.7–32.5) |
Estimated number of risky drinkers c | 17,030 | 16,840 |
Total households in the 10 experimental communities | 46,529 | - |
3.2. Violent Crimes Associated with Alcohol before and after the Intervention
Violent crime category | IRR | 95% CI | p–value | Change | Change |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(≤) | (%) | (n) | |||
Problematic weekends targeted vs. not targeted | |||||
Assaults a | 1.00 | 0.66–1.53 | 0.96 | 1 | 0 |
Sexual offences | 0.36 | 0.14–0.96 | 0.05 | −64 | 5 |
Problematic vs. non-problematic weekends | |||||
Assaults a | 0.81 | 0.71–0.93 | 0.01 | −19 | 145 |
Sexual offences | 0.77 | 0.47–1.27 | 0.31 | −22 | 0 |
3.3. Benefit-Cost Ratios
3.4. Sensitivity Analysis
Intervention costs a | Units | Total cost 2008–2009 (AUD) | |
---|---|---|---|
Identifying targeted weekends | |||
Time spent to identify problematic weekends | 21 h | $958 | |
Local Councils | |||
Generating generic letter, identifying clubs/pubs and other licensees | 4 h | $182 | |
Time spent to adapt template for each licensee each targeted weekend | 5 min per licensee | $13,181 | |
Mail to each licensee each targeted weekend (stamp, printing and envelope) | AUD$0.74 per licensee | $3,348 | |
Mayor preparing and sending out letter for each licensee each targeted weekend | 5 min per licensee | $5,565 | |
Time spent to generate “hot spot” map for initial targeted weekends | 2 h per community | $847 | |
Printing “hot spot” map per licensee | AUD$0.30 per licensee | $118 | |
Media | |||
Generating generic media release | 4 h | $182 | |
Tailoring media release pre-targeted weekend | 20 min per targeted weekend | $1,749 | |
Printing & distribution of media releases for targeted weekends | 1/3 page AUD$754 | $82,186 | |
Radio media broadcasts for targeted weekends | AUD$423 | $2,538 | |
Police | |||
Police visibility: extra vigilance, additional time patrolling, additional resources | $71,496 | ||
Police time: filling out post-targeted weekend violent crime reports | 1 h | $3,805 | |
Liquor accords or community coalition groups | |||
Generating and emailing targeted weekend reports | 20 min per targeted weekend | $1,749 | |
Total costs b | $187,905 | ||
Benefits | Total cost 2008–2009 (AUD) | 95% Uncertainty interval | |
Targeted weekends | |||
Alcohol-related sexual offences prevented (N = 5) | $74,005 | ($24,800–$82,800) | |
Households’ average willingness to pay a | |||
64% reduction in alcohol-related sexual offences | $4,052,118 | ($1,315,800–$4,660,800) | |
Total benefits b | $4,126,123 | ($1,380,000–$4,720,000) | |
Benefit-cost ratios | 21.96:1 | ||
Net social benefit | $3,938,218 |
Outcome | Change (%) a | Incidents prevented (n) | Average costs per incident b | Average expenditure per incident c | Average cost per incident | Average subtotal | Mean expected WTP per initial 10% reduction per household d | Mean expected WTP per next 10% reduction per householdd | Households (n) | Average total WTP | Average total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sexual offences | |||||||||||
Observed | −64% | 5 | $8,354 | $6,447 | $14,801 | $74,005 | $39.46 | $8.82 | 46,529 | $4,052,118 | $4,126,123 |
Decrease to | −25% | 2 | $8,354 | $6,447 | $14,801 | $29,602 | $39.46 | $8.82 | 46,529 | $2,451,613 | $2,481,215 |
Decrease to | −10% | 1 | $8,354 | $6,447 | $14,801 | $14,801 | $39.46 | - | 46,529 | $1,836,034 | $1,850,835 |
4. Discussion
4.1. Findings
4.2. Methodological Considerations
4.3. Implications
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Navarro, H.J.; Shakeshaft, A.; Doran, C.M.; Petrie, D.J. Does Increasing Community and Liquor Licensees’ Awareness, Police Activity, and Feedback Reduce Alcohol-Related Violent Crime? A Benefit-Cost Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10, 5490-5506. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10115490
Navarro HJ, Shakeshaft A, Doran CM, Petrie DJ. Does Increasing Community and Liquor Licensees’ Awareness, Police Activity, and Feedback Reduce Alcohol-Related Violent Crime? A Benefit-Cost Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2013; 10(11):5490-5506. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10115490
Chicago/Turabian StyleNavarro, Héctor José, Anthony Shakeshaft, Christopher M. Doran, and Dennis J. Petrie. 2013. "Does Increasing Community and Liquor Licensees’ Awareness, Police Activity, and Feedback Reduce Alcohol-Related Violent Crime? A Benefit-Cost Analysis" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 10, no. 11: 5490-5506. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10115490
APA StyleNavarro, H. J., Shakeshaft, A., Doran, C. M., & Petrie, D. J. (2013). Does Increasing Community and Liquor Licensees’ Awareness, Police Activity, and Feedback Reduce Alcohol-Related Violent Crime? A Benefit-Cost Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(11), 5490-5506. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10115490