Jon Stoddart

Positions held

• ? - ? - Chief Constable of Durham
• ? - ? - ACPO lead on alcohol and licensing

Views

On advertising:

A 9pm watershed is needed because of the harm that alcohol causes, Durham Chief Constable Jon Stoddart told Sky News.

"We have a responsibility as a society to protect our children, and I don't think that's being achieved by pretty much unlimited alcohol advertising on TV," he said.

On minimum pricing:

A significant percentage of violent crime and anti-social behaviour is alcohol-related. We face these problems because too many people are consuming too much alcohol. However we cannot enforce our way to a solution, it’s about how we prevent the abuse in the first place

ACPO lead on alcohol and licensing, Chief Constable Jon Stoddart said,

“We’re pleased to hear that the Government is committed to tackling the issues surrounding alcohol abuse in our communities and recognises the important role that the police service plays in dealing with those issues.

[...]

“It is clear that we need more effective solutions. Research shows that as price has decreased, consumption has increased – the average person is drinking more than 11 litres of alcohol a year[ either an outright lie, or he's being mislead ], more than twice the average consumption in the 1950s. The introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol would make alcohol less affordable thus reducing consumption and in turn the associated harm [ no it won't ].”

On 'pre-loading':

Week in week out in town centres across the country, the police have to deal with the consequences of cheap alcohol and irresponsible drinking. The growing trend for ‘pre-loading’ means that young people are often drunk before they even enter a bar. By the time they hit the streets at closing time they are more likely to get involved in crime and disorder or injure themselves or others. I welcome any new approach that will help reduce the availability of cheap alcohol, give communities a greater say over licensing in their area and reduce pressure on the police.

On reducing opening hours, thus probably increasing pre-loading. Oops

The ACPO lead on licensing has welcomed government proposals to clamp down on the excesses of the night time economy, claiming that restricted hours on alcohol sales will make the situation “more predictable and manageable”.

In welcoming the Home Office “Rebalancing the Licensing Act” consultation paper, CC Jon Stoddart said officers are dealing with more than a million alcohol-fuelled violent assaults each year and suggested that 24-hour drinking had created extra demands.

What this last quote fails to address is why the police allowed all these pubs 24x7 licences in the first place... What do you mean there are few if any pubs actually open 24 hours at a stretch?