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Alcohol and Crime: Beyond Density
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Introduction
In 1996, the University of WisconsinMadison
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was awarded a five year, $700,000 USD grant
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to combat high risk drinking. From this, the
RWJ/PACE
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Project was formed. One of the project’s goals (and grant’s requirements) was to
study the issue of high risk drinking from an environmental perspective. The logic of such an
approach is best summarized by the American Medical Association (AMA), which oversees the
Matter of Degree grant at UWMadison, and nine other schools for the RWJF. The AMA states
that “rather than blame students for their behavior or try to persuade them to stop drinking,
participants in A Matter of Degree are identifying the environmental factors such as alcohol
advertising and marketing, institutional policies and practices, local ordinances—even social and
cultural beliefs and behaviors—that converge to encourage alcohol abuse, and work together to
create positive changes.
”
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The hope is that if a college changes the environment in which
students drink, changes in students’ drinking patterns will subsequently be seen. Thus, liquor
licenses and the alcohol industry are prime targets for the grant’s prevention efforts.
The PACE Project has spent much of their time working with key politicians in the city
of Madison to support this environmental approach. City administration has responded with
offers of support from Madison’s Alcohol License Review Committee (the body which regulates
liquor licenses in the city) and the Mayor’s Work Group on Downtown Alcohol Issues (a task
force formed by the Mayor’s Office in 1999 to study alcohol related problems in downtown).
Both committees have focused and intensified their efforts on the following issues: over
saturation, overserving, capacity issues, and enforcement.
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The bulk of their recommendations
have focused on controlling the supply side of the alcohol industry.
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Convention