Intoxication Identification Using Thermal Imaging

In this chapter, seven different approaches are presented for identifying persons who have consumed alcohol. The main concept is to identify a drunk person based on the thermal signature of his face. The thermal map of the face changes as the person consumes alcohol due to the increased activity of the blood vessels. The methods are mathematically supported and present high rate of identification success. The experimental material was based on a systematically created database which includes the thermal images of the drunk persons as well as the thermal images of the face of the corresponding sober persons. This database is freely available on the web and can be used by the scientific community. In each method, different features are extracted for intoxication identification. The advantage of the majority of the methods is that drunk identification can be achieved without employing the image of the sober person for comparisons. Accordingly, a commercial system incorporating some of the presented methods does not require the existence of a database with thermal images of sober faces, thus it will be capable to operate on unknown persons. The achieved identification success for each separate method is over 80%

Scoping drug and alcohol consumption in young people on the Isle of Sheppey

Executive Summary: Scoping Drug and Alcohol Consumption in Young People on the Isle of Sheppey. Introduction: In 2008 the Sheppey Health and Wellbeing Group (SHWG) raised awareness of the need for a project on the Isle of Sheppey with a focus upon drug and alcohol abuse. The SHWG is a network of over 20 local community groups and partners involved in various local public health initiatives. The group had been concerned for some time by regular reports of drugs and alcohol abuse in Sheerness, often leading to fights and other anti-social behaviour. The University of Greenwich was identified as a suitable partner to gather data about local needs. The members of the SHWG agreed that Sheppey Matters was best placed to work with the University on this project, funding was obtained from the HEFCE funded SECC initiative and a community researcher was employed to bridge the gap between the University of Greenwich and the Isle of Sheppey. The project was overseen by a steering group of individuals from the Isle of Sheppey and University of Greenwich. The members who were Sheppey–based were as followed: Councillor Kenneth Pugh- Chair (Member Sheerness District), Mike Brown (Chair of the Sheppey Health and Wellbeing Group), Nigel Martin (Manager- Sheppey Matters) and Kelly Barshell (Community Researcher). The following individuals from the University of Greenwich were on the Committee; Professor Elizabeth Meerabeau (Dean of School, Health and Social Care), Professor Elizabeth West (Director of Research, School of Health and Social Care), Professor Roslyn Corney (Psychology and Counselling) and Dr John Foster- (Principal Research Fellow in Mental Health Nursing and Substance Use.) In addition to collecting data about local needs the project team have to date developed two pilot projects; firstly a survey of drug and alcohol use in young people attending Sheppey Academy aged 14-18 and secondly a residents survey investigating the impact of drug and alcohol use in young people on the island. The aim is to leave a legacy of research skills that would, in the long run, benefit the island’s young people. Local volunteers were recruited to assist the community researcher who commenced employment in March 2010. These volunteers have received training/supervision from researchers from the University and were able to attend 2 one day public health workshops. Health professionals and workers from the third sector attended the public health workshops on social marketing and community engagement that contributed to the legacy of the project. Methodology: This has primarily been a scoping exercise to explore drug and alcohol use in young people, though substance use data relating to adult populations has also been collected. The five main modes of data collection were as follows: • Publically available health and crime and datasets, such as hospital admission data. Similar locally focused crime-related data has proved far harder to obtain. • Survey of young people from Sheppey Academy • Residents survey conducted via the internet • Focus Groups of Young People • Stakeholder interviews with a member of the local primary care trust, street wardens, senior member of staff from Sheppey Academy, workers from local voluntary and statutory sector local drug and alcohol treatment services and commissioner of drug and alcohol services. Ethical approval was granted for the study by the University of Greenwich Research Ethics Committee in April 2010. Key Findings: Publicly Available Data • Notwithstanding some data collection anomalies alcohol-related hospital admissions for the Isle of Sheppey are disproportionate compared to the rest of Swale and Kent. • This is particularly marked for women. • No data has so far been located that would allow us to conclusively attribute anti-social behaviour to alcohol or drug use. • Hard data about drugs use and criminality on the island has been very difficult to locate. Survey of Young People: • 400 students from Sheppey Academy aged 13-19 (14.8, 0.9, Mean, SD) (males 168 (42%), females 232 (58%) replied to a survey on drug and alcohol use. • The vast majority were occasional alcohol users who other than being sick caused or encountered very few problems when drinking. • The police were active on the island and it was common for young people to have contact with them. • Less than five percent had any form of medical treatment as a result of their drinking. • Only 13% of the sample had ever used an illicit drug. • Cannabis was the most frequent illicit drug taken and this was only on an occasional basis Residents Survey conducted via the internet: • 109 responses were received and other than Leysdown all areas of the island provided responses consistent with their population levels. • The majority of respondent were 20-30 and 65+ • There was drug and alcohol related anti-social behaviour and drug dealing but it was at the same level of concern as “rubbish or litter” and “people not treating other people with respect and consideration.” Focus Groups of Young People: • Two mixed gender focus groups. Group a) students aged 16-17 from Sheppey Academy. Group b) aged 15-16 and recruited through the Sheppey Healthy Living Centre. • The participants confirmed the findings of the young people’s survey. • A number had alcohol confiscated by the anti-social behaviour vehicle but would have also welcomed having their parents informed • Alcohol was easy to obtain chiefly from off-licenses rather than pubs or supermarkets. • Alcohol was frequently obtained through parents, older siblings and older friends • Alcohol and Drug Education classes delivered in their schools were regarded as having minimal impact. A number could not remember whether they received them or not. • The main reason the participants drank was boredom • Drug use in the focus group participants was minimal and infrequent. • The participants would have welcomed greater activities such as sports or a night clubs. • One of the main problems impacting upon them was poor public transport- especially buses to the more remote parts of the island which are infrequent and stop at 7.30pm. Stakeholder Interviews: • Anti-social behaviour is not spread evenly across the island, but is concentrated around beaches and parks as follows: Warden:- area near Donkey Hill, Queenborough; Stanley Avenue, Rushenden: Manor Road, Halfway Area around car park. Minster: Lapwing Close, Harps Estate, Noreen Avenue, Bunnybank, The Glen, Redrow Estate, Appleford Drive, The Broadway, The Leas, Queens Road and behind the supermarket car park and finally Sheerness: Vincent Court, Edenbridge Drive, Beach Front, Beachfield Park, Barton Points, Marine Town, the canal, the town centre, St. Georges Avenue, the railway station and various alleyways in and around the Alma Road area. • Anti-social behaviour worsens in the summer months • Drug and alcohol use in young people on the island is largely seen as being consistent with the rest of Kent and the rest of England, though there are a small number who are encountering significant alcohol and drug–related problems. • Alcohol and drug use on the island has to be seen within the context of deprivation, isolation and perceived lack of opportunity • The main drug of choice for young people on the island is alcohol • In relation to illicit drugs in young people, cannabis use is the most prevalent followed by Ecstasy and legal highs such as mephedrone* • Problematic illicit drug use requiring treatment intervention tends to be uncommon and spread across a number of generations. • There is a perception that drug problems and drug dealing have reduced since the closure of a nightclub in Sheerness in 2004. Role of Volunteers/Public Health Workshops: One of the first tasks of the community researcher was to recruit volunteers to assist in delivering the proposed pilot studies. Prior to the advertisement being placed the project was publicised in the local press and radio. Potential volunteers were subject to a criminal records check, a process that took approximately three months so volunteers were not able to take an active role in the project until May/June 2010. Originally five volunteers were recruited, two found employment in the interim, one did not attend any meetings after initially expressing an interest and two took an active role in the study. In July 2010 a Social Marketing workshop, facilitated by two external consultants, was held at University of Greenwich Medway Campus. It was attended by thirty people including the two volunteers. The majority of the participants were professionals/volunteers with an interest in drug/alcohol use/young people who lived or worked on the island. Thus although the numbers were small a great deal of goodwill was developed that could be utilised to drive the project forward. Another workshop was held concerning enhancing community engagement in December 2010. It was a one day workshop held on two days attended by voluntary and statutory workers from the island and mainland Swale. Six individuals attended on day 1 and eight on day 2. This coincided with very cold weather so attendance was disappointing, however the courses were both positively evaluated by the participants. Establishing a legacy for the project: The project team are taking a number of steps to ensure a permanent legacy for the project. • A DVD aimed at the public health community has been made using a production company employed by Sheppey Matters celebrating the project and summarising the main findings. Key personnel from both Sheppey Matters and the University of Greenwich have been filmed in addition to young people on the island. The final result is also available in a series of pod/video casts that will be uploaded on to the web sites of Centre for Nursing and Health Care Research – University of Greenwich http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/health/research/cnhr and Sheerness Healthy Living Centre. http://www.sheppeyhlc.org.uk • On May 27th a dissemination event for the project was held to celebrate the work and establish local goodwill to push it forward. Key local stakeholders were invited to hear the main findings being presented with ideas about providing permanent initiatives to improve health of both young people and adults on the island. • The legacy is concerned with taking steps to reduce overall drug and alcohol use on the island. The first of these concerns drug and alcohol education for young people. The focus groups confirmed that alcohol/drug education was not highly regarded by the young people. There is now a large evidence base that finds that if drug/alcohol education is to have a positive impact it has to be appropriate for age of the audience and re-inforced throughout the school career. The University of Greenwich will work to secure funding for a worker to deliver the education in an evidence based way using established templates and train teachers/youth workers etc to continue this work once the project has ended. As part of the project the work will be evaluated. • The SOS bus is a public health initiative that has been funded in part by Medway PCT and evaluated by a team from the University of Greenwich. It delivers public health interventions such as screening for diabetes and providing advice re sexual health etc and the intention now is for this bus to be used in a similar way on Sheppey. If funding can be found for this it will be particularly important in reaching the more remote parts of the island. • Data from the study has shown that many young people come into frequent contact with the police and in some cases a greater police presence would be welcomed. It is also important to note that the culture surrounding young people’s drug and alcohol use is constantly evolving-social networking packages such as facebook and twitter may produce fresh challenges for the police. The research team are now working with Councillor Kenneth Pugh to negotiate a formal advisory role with the police on the island. Note: * Mephedrone was legal at the time of the interviews. It has since been banned-see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8623958.stm). November 201

Marijuana Intoxication Detection Using Convolutional Neural Network

Machine learning is a broad study of computer science, widely used for data analysis and algorithms that has the ability to learn and improve by experience through training. Supervised learning, Unsupervised learning, Dimensionality Reduction, Deep Learning, etc are the methods offered by Machine learning. These techniques are applied in fields like medical, automotive finance, and many more. In this thesis, Convolutional neural network (CNN) which is a part of deep learning techniques is applied to identify if a person is under influence of Marijuana or sober, using facial feature changes like redness in eyes, watery eyes, and drowsiness caused after smoking Marijuana. CNN is a state-of-the-art method in tasks like image classification and pattern recognition. CNN’s ability to learn from training the model using image dataset is a suitable method to be used in the problem of identifying a person’s sobriety based on facial features. The proposed methodology is divided into three components. Which are dataset creation, face detection to extract input image from real-time video, and finally, tuning and training CNN model for making a prediction. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a CNN model that may be helpful if implemented in vehicles in the future to reduce impaired driving incidents. Impaired driving is a major criminal cause of vehicle accidents in Canada. Impaired driving is a serious problem that puts the lives of pedestrians on the road and drivers involved in impaired driving themselves in danger. This thesis presents how Machine Learning can be applied to predict driver’s sobriety that may be helpful in reducing impaired driving incidents in the future by implementing in vehicles

The Operation of Autonomous Mobile Robot Assistants in the Environment of Care Facilities Adopting a User-Centered Development Design

The successful development of autonomous mobile robot assistants depends significantly on the well-balanced reconcilements of the technically possible and the socially desirable. Based on empirical research 2 substantiated conclusions can be established for the suitability of "scenario-based design" (Rosson/Carroll 2003) for the successful development of mobile robot assistants and automated guided vehicles to be applied for service functions in stationary care facilities for seniors.User-Centered Technology Development, Knowledge-Transfer, Participative Assessment Methods, Robotics

Policing alcohol and illicit drug use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in metropolitan environments

Executive summary: This report presents the results of Australian Institute of Criminology research on issues and challenges of policing alcohol and illicit drug use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in metropolitan environments. This report is a companion to the 2006 National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund project The policing implications of cannabis, amphetamine and other illicit drug use in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The main purpose of both pieces of research was to contribute to police service knowledge of substance use by Indigenous people and to provide a framework for good practice policing of the issues associated with alcohol and drug misuse. Report structure The first section of this report provides a summary of available data on Indigenous alcohol and other drug (AOD) use in metropolitan areas. The second section reports on the challenges that police and other stakeholders identified through survey results and focus group/interview consultations that relate to policing Indigenous substance use in metropolitan areas. The final section of the report presents a suggested framework for adapting the good practice framework developed in Delahunty and Putt’s research for general use within metropolitan areas

Alcohol, assault and licensed premises in inner-city areas

This report contains eight linked feasibility studies conducted in Cairns during 2010. These exploratory studies examine the complex challenges of compiling and sharing information about incidents of person-to-person violence in a late night entertainment precinct (LNEP). The challenges were methodological as well as logistical and ethical. The studies look at how information can be usefully shared, while preserving the confidentiality of those involved. They also examine how information can be compiled from routinely collected sources with little or no additional resources, and then shared by the agencies that are providing and using the information.Although the studies are linked, they are also stand-alone and so can be published in peer-reviewed literature. Some have already been published, or are ‘in press’ or have been submitted for review. Others require the NDLERF board’s permission to be published as they include data related more directly to policing, or they include information provided by police.The studies are incorporated into the document under section headings. In each section, they are introduced and then presented in their final draft form. The final published form of each paper, however, is likely to be different from the draft because of journal and reviewer requirements. The content, results and implications of each study are discussed in summaries included in each section.Funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, an initiative of the National Drug StrategyAlan R Clough (PhD) School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences James Cook UniversityCharmaine S Hayes-Jonkers (BPsy, BSocSci (Hon1)) James Cook University, Cairns.Edward S Pointing (BPsych) James Cook University, Cairns

Is enough really enough? : Evaluation of an alcohol awareness campaign at ECU Joondalup

Australian young adults aged 17-25 years old attending university are more likely to drink at levels which put themselves at risk of both short and long term alcohol-related harm. University settings are an appropriate place to target university students with alcohol education or awareness-raising campaigns. Australian research on this topic is relatively limited. This mixed methods study involved two phases. The first phase quantitatively evaluated the impact of the \u27Enough is Enough\u27 campaign, implemented by the North Metropolitan Community Drug Service Team at ECU Joondalup, on students\u27 awareness of the consequences of excessive alcohol use and perceived acceptability of drunkenness. The second phase qualitatively explored how to actively engage university students in alcohol education or awareness-raising campaigns. In phase one, a convenience sample of students from the ECU Joondalup Student Village completed 48 pre-test and 55 post-test questionnaires. In phase two a convenience sample of five students were interviewed using a semi-structured format. Phase one results showed an increased recognition and perceived appropriateness of the \u27Enough is Enough\u27 campaign at ECU Joondalup. There was, however, no significant change in the respondents\u27 perceived acceptability of drunkenness. While there was an increase in respondents\u27 awareness of the consequences of excessive alcohol use, this increase could be attributed to the non-matching of pre- and post-test samples. Phase two revealed students preferred holistic strategies rather than singular approaches, and harm reduction education rather than abstinence based approaches. Using technology, incentives, promotional resources, activities, student volunteers and appropriate locations to enable students\u27 participation were reported to be important. Barriers to student\u27s participation were the Australian drinking culture, time commitments, passive advertising and the on-campus alcohol policy. The study provided more understanding on alcohol awareness campaigns in university settings. More published Australian research in university settings is required

‘This town’s a different town today’:: Policing and regulating the night-time economy

This article considers recent policing and regulatory responses to the night-time economy in England and Wales. Drawing upon the findings of a broader two-year qualitative investigation of local and national developments in alcohol policy, it identifies a dramatic acceleration of statutory activity, with 12 new or revised powers, and several more in prospect, introduced by the Labour Government within its first decade in office. Interview data and documentary sources are used to explore the degree to which the introduction of such powers, often accompanied by forceful rhetoric and high profile police action, has translated into a sustained expansion of control. Many of the new powers are spatially directed, as well as being focused upon the actions of distinct individuals or businesses, yet the willingness and capacity to apply powers to offending individuals in comparison to businesses is often variable and asymmetrical. The practice of negotiating order in the night-time economy is riddled with tensions and ambiguities that reflect the ad hoc nature and rapid escalation of the regulatory architecture. Night-time urban security governance is understood as the outcome of subtle organizational and interpersonal power-plays. Social orders, normative schemas and apportionments of blame thus arise as a byproduct of patterned (structural) relations

Community Safety and the Night Time Economy: a report for Gloucestershire Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner

This report presents the findings from a three-year project that examined issues related to crime, crime reduction, and community safety in Gloucestershire’s Night Time Economy. ‘Night Time Economy’ (NTE) is the term used in this report to refer to economic activity that takes place between 6pm and 6am. The project was funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire between September 2014 and December 2017, and was conducted by a research team from the school of Natural and Social Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire

Northern Territory safe streets audit

This audit examined crime and safety issues in the Northern Territory urban communities of Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs to help inform effective strategies to reduce the actual and perceived risk of victimisation. Abstract This Special Report is a research driven response to community concerns regarding the level of crime and fear of crime in the Northern Territory. The Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University and the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) were commissioned by the Northern Territory Police Force (NT Police) to undertake the NT Safe Streets Audit. The purpose of the Safe Streets Audit was to examine crime and safety issues in the Northern Territory urban communities of Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs and to help inform effective strategies to reduce the actual and perceived risk of victimisation. The audit involved a literature review exploring issues impacting on the fear of crime in the Northern Territory, focus groups with a range of stakeholders in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine, the analysis of media articles on crime and policing, the analysis of incident data from NT Police on assault offences and public disorder incidents, and a rapid evidence assessment of the effectiveness of strategies targeting NT crime problems. Implications for future crime reduction approaches in the Northern Territory were then identified