15/12/2022
Over 500 licensing checks have been carried out by police during the last month.
This is part of a police operation looking to tackle the increased number of alcohol and drink related offences that Guernsey Police has received this year. It will also ensure that there is a robust police response to other offences, such as:
- Drink spiking
- Drink driving or drug driving
- Sexual assault or groping
- General public disorder
Each of these offences are linked to the increased amount of alcohol consumed when people are on a night out, and the actions police are taking are therefore centred around the night-time economy.
Checks on licensed premises allow our teams to ensure that the requirements set out on the license are being followed and have also acted as an opportunity for officers and drugs dogs to screen establishments while on high visibility patrols. If any concerns are raised as a result of a licensing check, Guernsey Police can ask for a review to be done of the license by the courts.
We have also employed the use of plain clothes patrols to watch out for any incidents.
Finally, the campaign also encompasses increased drink drive checks that are carried out around Christmas every year.
Acting Chief Inspector, Operations, Liam Johnson, said:
"It won't be a surprise to anyone that we see a surge in people out in our night-time economy over Christmas, and with that comes an increase in the number of people drinking to excess. We are of course not here to stop people enjoying themselves, but we always record more interactions between the public and our officers at this time of year - as people drink more, they are more likely to put themselves or others at risk.
"This Operation is seeking to ensure that people in our community can go on a night out without fear or worry of what someone else might do to them. We want to get drink-drivers off our roads and bring people who look to take advantage of others in front of the courts.
"To do this we are employing a number of different tactics: we have consistent high-visibility patrols out in Town on evenings, and we are also putting plain-clothed officers into Town. Our Roads Policing Unit is patrolling the outskirts of Town to stop drink-drivers, and any investigations into offences linked to the operation are being expedited and reviewed to watch for any patterns of behaviour.
"We are very aware that there has been an increased concern about drink spiking in recent months. While there is no forensic evidence of systemic drink spiking occurring in the Bailiwick, that does not mean it is not happening and the operation has allowed us to put a focus on this area."
It is Guernsey Police's primary objective to keep our community safe and secure, and that means people should be able to enjoy their nights out without fearing that someone could tamper with their drink, assault them, or commit any other offence toward them.
While drink spiking is a difficult offence to prove, Guernsey Police continues to investigate each report thoroughly. We will continue to investigate each incident, while also taking action to prevent them from occurring in the first place.