Police to tweet alcohol incidents

Officers working in towns and cities will be sending out social media messages between 6pm Saturday September 21 and 6am Sunday September 22.

It forms part of the ongoing nationwide alcohol awareness campaign In Focus.

Using the Twitter hash-tag #infocus members of the public can see the types of incidents that police respond to in their area and how they deal with them.

Ch Supt Simon Willsher, who is leading the initiative, said: “The Tweetathon really serves to highlight the work conducted by the police and the wide-ranging impact alcohol can have.

“Officers involved in weekend operations in our towns and cities will be sending out facts and figures about any drink-related incidents they are responding to.

“For instance, they may reveal how many people have been taken into custody for drink-related incidents or the number of people issued with directions to leave a particular area because they are drunk.

“They will also be describing some of the scenarios they face and what they are doing to resolve them, such as seizing alcohol from street drinkers.

“Safety messages will also be issued to ensure revellers consider how much they are drinking and whether they are acting responsibly.

“In the 12 months up to August 2013 there have been a total of 3,071 arrests for those who are drunk and disorderly.

“This is a figure which can certainly be reduced, but relies largely on people understanding their limits.

“By using social media in this way, we hope it will offer an insight in to the pressures it creates on police resources while underlining the personal steps people can take to protect themselves from vulnerability.”