Palmerston North has become one of the first areas in the country to adopt a joint approach to tackling alcohol-related harm.
Alcohol is in the media spotlight on an almost daily basis as it is a feature in a significant number of crimes and crashes and costs New Zealand billions of dollars a year. This in turn has significant impact on the police, fire service, health professionals and local authorities.
The Auditor General has strongly recommended a combined agency approach to both regulate and enforce the Sale of Liquor Act and today Palmerston North became one of the first cities to make the move.
Inspector Pat Handcock (Area Commander for Palmerston North Police) Peter Eathorne (Palmerston North City Council) Mitchell Brown (Area Commander for Manawatu Area, Western Fire Region) and Dr Jill McKenzie (Medical Officer of Health for Mid Central Health) all met to officially sign the document and reinforce their commitment to providing a safe licensed drinking environment for the public.
The document sets out the roles and responsibilities of each of the agencies and outlines the processes for implementing effective initiatives and operations.
The joint approach will see a more proactive stance towards alcohol-related problems and licensees can expect to see an increase in Controlled Purchase Operations, visits and compliances checks during risk periods.
Palmerston North Police Area Commander Inspector Pat Handcock said: "This agreement and focus is intended to increase community safety through reducing victimisation and offending. It isn't about trying to catch licensees out. It pleases us when we find licensees complying with the law, but there are sadly too many instances when this isn't the case. We cannot ignore the fact that alcohol is a real problem nationally and we need to step up the focus and work jointly with licensees to keep the message at the front of everyone's minds."
Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor said: "A safe drinking environment is vital to a safe city, and to see the good work of all of these organisations being combined and put on a formal footing is very pleasing. It has enormous potential to help us get to the heart of the issues and prevent alcohol-related harm, rather than have to pick up the pieces after the event."
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Kim Perks on 06 351 2546 or 027 234 8256.