Project targets drink, crime

Police are aiming for a 15 per cent reduction in alcohol-related crime and road crashes, using a new system to find out where drunk offenders had their last drink.

The Alco-Link project, which begins in just over a month, will help police to pinpoint bars and pubs that are breaching the Sale of Liquor Act and to sever the link between alcohol and crime.

It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of crime is alcohol-related, and in Wellington, new data shows 12 per cent of licensed premises are linked to 50 per cent of crimes.

Every person who is processed through police cells will be asked if they have been drinking, and when and where they had their last drink. Their observed level of intoxication will be recorded.

- NZPA