Control of drinking areas would help racecourses beat louts to the punch

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Title – Control of drinking areas would help racecourses beat louts to the punch
Source – The Times
Date – 22 July 2008

I found reading this commentary quite depressing, firstly because of the sense that race courses now seem to be suffering the blight of individual ‘hooligans’; because they seem to have no idea how to deal with it; but mainly because of the commentators resignation that there is nothing that can be reasonably be done about it.

It is precisely this attitude that such behaviour is an inevitable part of our society that has given that small minority of thugs and trouble makers carte blanche to behave in this way. I am old enough to remember the bad old days of the seventies and eighties when many football grounds became no-go areas because of football hooliganism. In those days it was not called alcohol-fuelled hooliganism, but I defy anyone to say that the hooligans weren’t in the most part drunk when they went on the rampage under the guise of their football team. I lived in Brussels when my beloved Liverpool played that fateful match at the Heizel stadium; I saw the supporters of both teams ‘fuelling up’ in town before the ‘game’.

My point is we didn’t blame ‘hooliganism’ purely on alcohol, the blame went on the individuals involved and we should be very proud of the great success that football has made in eradicating the scourge that tainted the beautiful game. No one can really deny that alcohol plays a part in violence, but the answer has never been prohibition. ‘Control’ is part of the solution and responsible alcohol retailing should be a central theme, but the vast majority of people who enjoy alcohol responsibly should not be held to ransom by the few who are inherently thugs and bullies, who use alcohol as an excuse.

That the commentator quotes “..venues may be unable to restrict degrees of drinking, but they should certainly restrict the areas where it is drunk…” is I am sure not the attitude taken by the race course management themselves. The fact is that the events he mentions should be encouraged, they bring in business and importantly new business; however that as a consequence violence will follow should not be accepted. There are plenty of responsible customers out there to provide the additional trade the racecourses are looking for, without the need to scramble for the few extra pounds that this minority bring. Besides, there is no doubt that without accepting this minority there is actually scope to increase income and reduce expenses. Most income comes from responsible customers and they simply do not want to attend venues and events where violence is accepted.

The solution, apart from zero tolerance policies and restricting access to those who act in an aggressive or violent manner, is to provide staff with our excellent training to reduce these instances from occurring in the first place. Responsible alcohol retailing relies on staff being well trained and observing the regulations laid down in the Licensing Act 2003 and the Licensing Objectives, that provide the frame work to ensure disorder is not permitted in licensed premises. Courses such as the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) for front line staff and the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) for supervisory staff and managers, cover the framework of the act and look at ways of ensuring alcohol is retailed responsibly; we don’t have to accept drunkenness we have to prevent it.

Our Conflict Management & Resolution course (CMR) provides workplace specific solutions to Workplace Violence. This course aims to allow your employees to identify aggression and manage it before it turns to violence. For high risk environments our Physical Intervention course (PI) give employees the techniques to protect themselves, their colleagues and customers from violence by employing our low-impact disengagement and techniques. Where required we can also teach restraint and escorting techniques that allow suitably trained staff to remove violent individuals from your premises in a safe and low-impact professional manner.

Please visit our website please visit at www.btbl.co.uk