THE councillor responsible for public safety has insisted Croydon does not have a problem with alcohol-fuelled violence – as authorities announced the FIFTH measure to tackle the issue in little over a year.
In the past 13 months it has been made harder to open off-licences, buy super-strength beer and cider and, most recently, hold music events in the town centre, seemingly in response to an increase in violence and disorder linked to the night time economy.
The Safer Croydon Partnership, involving the council, police and local businesses, has now bought six breath-testing devices to ensure people are not too drunk to enter Croydon's pubs and clubs.
The devices are in the process of being delivered but, speaking this week, Cllr Mark Watson, cabinet member for safety and justice, suggested he did not think they were needed, and that the issue of alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour was in danger of being "overplayed".
"I wonder how useful they're going to be," he said. "I think our pubs and clubs are already doing a good job of stopping those who are too drunk from getting in. It's actually when they can't access a venue that they kick off.
"It will be good to try [the breath testing devices] but I think we already have a lot of sensible measures in place. We will have to see how it goes and evaluate it from there."
Police trialled the devices at two late-night venues in Croydon on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the end of November. The idea followed successful schemes elsewhere in the country.
The devices consist of a cylindrical tube and a light which glows red if the person breathing into it is more than twice the drink-drive limit (80 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath). If so, they will be refused entry.
Croydon Police said this week that "anecdotal" evidence during the trial suggested the devices could be a success. "The venues reported fewer altercations caused by intoxicated customers attempting to gain entry and consequently a reduction in the potential for alcohol-related disorder," a spokesman said.
The devices are expected to be in use later this month and are the latest measure introduced by the council and police to address problem drinking.
In December 2013 the council approved new licensing powers designed to restrict the opening of new off-licences in "cumulative impact zones" covering certain areas of Croydon, including the town centre. In February 2014, Croydon was among 20 places to be designated a hotspot for alcohol issues and given extra support from the Government.
A few months later 34 town centre off-licences agreed to stop selling cheap, high-strength beer and cider as part of a council scheme aimed at tackling street and binge-drinking.
Croydon was one of six boroughs in London chosen to be part of a Metropolitan Police crackdown on begging and rough sleeping, including alcohol confiscations, on several occasions in 2014.
Then, at the end of the year, police told promoters they must sit an exam if they want to hold music events in Croydon town centre. Esther Sutton, chairman of Pubwatch, said the test would help arrest a "spike" in recent violent incidents.
Though the number of ambulance call-outs for binge drinking and assaults in the town centre are falling, police figures showing a 33 per cent increase in violent crime in 2014.
But that is the opposite of what police have said in recent public meetings and contradicts Cllr Watson's message.
"I think violence is under control," he said.
"If violence is going up it's because we have more police in the town centre so they are making more arrests.
"There is always more we could do. I'd like to disperse people as quickly as we can after they leave the bars.
"But I don't think we have a big problem or stand out from anywhere else. I think a lot of the measure we have are very sensible but we have to be careful not to go over the top."
