UK looks to US for Guidance in the Fight Against Alcohol Misuse

While DUI/drunk driving is the most notable alcohol-involved crime in the United States, the United Kingdom has launched a far-reaching initiative to minimize the extraordinary burden of alcohol-fueled violence and criminality. DUI is less of a focus in the UK’s alcohol and crime efforts, thanks to comprehensive mass transit systems. But according to Justice Minister Nick Herbert, “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.”

Dubbed the new “Sobriety Scheme” by the UK press, the initiative is aimed at the pervasive issues of violence, domestic violence, and binge drinking that are driving up societal costs at an alarming rate. For serious and violent criminals with “drink problems,” ministers want to introduce new laws enabling the courts to impose sobriety orders as part of a suspended or community sentence. It is estimated that the alcohol issue in the UK costs the National Health System $4.2 billion a year.  When you look at the big picture, alcohol-related costs to society total as much as $34 billion a year.

While electronic monitoring (EM), including house arrest and GPS location monitoring, have been widely used in the states for decades, the UK currently estimates that on any given day, 14,000 people are electronically monitored with house arrest/home detention technology. Until now, alcohol monitoring has not been utilized. And GPS tags, which work with satellites to monitor a person’s location, are also being piloted in England, which could alert local authorities if an individual were to enter certain prohibited areas such as pubs or nightclubs.

Pilot programs in England and Wales are anticipated to begin shortly, and Scotland is already underway with a similar Pilot.

Alcohol misuse is a worldwide issue, and the UK isn’t the only country looking to the US for proven methods for managing alcohol-dependent offenders.