Timaru licensed premises trading hours

Introduction

There is significant international evidence of a link between alcohol and violent crime.

New Zealand surveys have indicated that, over a one year period, eight percent of men and five percent of women are physically assaulted by someone who has been drinking.

On-licensed premises - such as bars and nightclubs - represent one setting for drinking that can be implicated in violence, especially in the later evening or early morning.

Problems occur when intoxicated patrons either move between venues or when premises close and they disperse onto the streets.

One solution to this issue is change liquor license conditions to require premises to close earlier.

Police and local government licensing inspectors in Timaru successfully advocated a change to the closing times of all bars in Timaru's central business district (CBD), which resulted in a standard closing time of 3am.

Licensed premises in Timaru's city centre

Timaru has a population of around 30,000. Within the CBD's entertainment centre there are 12 bars all located in one central city block. Prior to October 2007, four of these bars were opened until 5am, while one had a 24-hour licence. In October 2007 all five bars were closed at 3am.

Since 2002, the CBD has also been covered by a liquor ban, which prohibits the consumption of alcohol in public places. In January 2007, prior to the change in trading hours for licensed premises, the liquor ban was extended to cover a wider zone of approximately 20 blocks.

Measuring the impact of change

Despite issues with interpreting the data statistically, there was a clear reduction of recorded violent crimes in Timaru following the October 2007 changes to licensed premises' trading hours.

The most profound reduction appeared during weekends between 3am and 6am, with recorded violent incidents dropping by two-thirds (64%) in the vicinity of Timaru's five inner-city bars.

The evidence showed that violent crime did not simply occur at an earlier time, or move elsewhere within Timaru. Instead the total number of violent incidents recorded by Police reduced by eight percent in the 12 months following the October 2007 change to trading hours.

Changes were also noted in non-criminal incidents with the number of people taken to a place of safety by Police was reduced by one-third (29%).

Timaru Police feel strongly that the change made to reduce trading hours has made a real difference in helping reduce alcohol-related problems in the CBD.

Although Timaru's population size, overall pattern of offending and its compact CBD mean that this method works well in Timaru, it may not work elsewhere. However, Timaru's results offer a promising example of how an adjustment to liquor licensing conditions, particularly reducing trading hours, can impact on alcohol-related crime.

For more information, download detailed fact sheet. [PDF 172KB]