Politicians might talk up levels of violence on the mean streets after dark, but as usual the bleak picture they paint is a far cry from the truth - as a pioneering scheme in Manchester has proved.
Greater Manchester Police's City Centre Safe strategy, which seeks to reduce alcohol related crime in the city, recently announced results that have seen the number of assaults fall - for the fourth successive year.
In the period from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2004, serious assaults recorded in the city centre saw a sustained fall of 11.8%, while the picture for 2004/2005 looks even more encouraging, with serious assaults reduced by 32.5% and total assaults by 27.3%. The news was attributed to the success of the City Centre Safe scheme, which since 2001 has sought to tackle the issue of alcohol related crime in the city.
The scheme, which teams targeted enforcement with an incentive programme that encourages bar and club operators to raise standards, was devised in 2001 by local police Jan Brown and Steve Greenacre in response to the findings of the British Crime Survey, which showed that a significantly high proportion of crime was directly or indirectly attached to licensed premises with poor management standards.
The flagship initiative within this scheme is the Best Bar None Awards, which rewards those operators who have demonstrated safe and responsible management in an annual ceremony, scheduled for later this year. While all applicants can be considered for accreditation, the benefits of which will include reduced insurance costs for the operator, the highest performing operators in the categories of pub, bar and club, will go on to be assessed for Best Bar None nominations. The Best Bar None initiative is being considered nationwide, and has already been approved for roll out in Scotland from 2005.