Do patron bans act as a deterrent to future anti-social offending? An analysis of banning and offending data from Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT

Police-imposed patron bans seek to reduce alcohol-related harm in and around licensed premises. This study examined the offending records of people who received bans and explored whether anti-social offences reduced after the imposition of a police-imposed ban. A de-identified dataset was obtained from Victoria Police, comprising persons who received police-imposed bans in one Australian city between 2010 and 2017. Analyses were conducted to examine charging histories and offence types before and after receipt of the ban. Of those who received bans, 70.7% had recorded offences before the ban. The median number of charges before and after receiving a ban were not significantly different with respect to both anti-social behaviours and other behaviours. However, when examining short term effects (two years prior and post receiving a ban), there was a significant increase in anti-social offending, specifically public order offences (d = 0.67), after receiving a ban compared to before. Most of the ban recipients had an established record of anti-social behaviours. As a short-term sanction which limits access to specific locations, Victoria’s police-imposed bans do not appear to deter recipients from repeat offending or change already established patterns of anti-social behaviours. Consideration should be given to extending the permissible length of bans and to ensuring more effective enforcement. In addition, alternative interventions or diversions for those with a record of anti-social offending, which could be initiated on-the-spot, may be more effective in reducing undesirable behaviours in and around licensed premises.

KEYWORDS:

• Patron banning
• alcohol-related harm
• police
• deterrence
• displacement
• legitimacy

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Victoria Police for providing the police ban data, and in particular David Ballek, Chantelle Miller, Cindy Millen, Zoe Gunn, and Karla Challis.

Disclosure statement

Peter Miller receives funding from Australian Research Council and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, grants from NSW Government, National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Cancer Council Victoria, Queensland Government, the Northern Territory Government, the Northern Territory Primary Health Network (NTPHN), the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) and Australian Drug Foundation, travel and related costs from Australasian Drug Strategy Conference and Queensland Police Service. He has acted as a paid expert witness on behalf of a licensed venue and a security firm. Kerri Coomber receives funding from Australian Research Council, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Lives Lived Well, Australian Rechabites Foundation, the Queensland Government, NTPHN, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) and the Northern Territory Government.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and analysed during the current study are not publicly available as the IRB does not allow data sharing.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Deakin University.