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

Bouncers, brutes and brawn: are bouncers being discriminated against in news reports? a critical discourse analysis

Public perceptions of bouncers have been of thuggish, brutish men who like nothing better than to 'pound people into the pavement' or 'heave people out onto the street'. Arguably, Neanderthal-like perceptions of bouncers have prevailed over time, both in the eyes of the public and the eyes of the news media. Incidents of bouncers being involved in violent encounters, including deaths, have been well documented in the news media; most notably, the death of the Australian cricketer David Hookes in 2004. Links between bouncers, biker gangs and organised crime have also been identified and may well influence public perceptions of bouncers. Alcohol-related violence in the night-time economy is a complex social, cultural and structural problem that has no simple solution. Bouncers occupy a precarious and contradictory position as the protectors and minders of persons and property within the night-time economy. The news media is a powerful mechanism for influencing, producing and reproducing dominant ideological values and norms in relation to biases, discrimination and racism. This thesis employs a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) perspective and seeks to determine, through an in-depth analysis of news reports and a categorical qualitative analysis, if negative portrayals and discrimination through rhetorical and discursive strategies in the news media contribute to the public perception of bouncers as thugs. CDA seeks to uncover the political and ideological meanings behind talk and text. The aim of this research is to expose the underlying sociopolitical factors that are contributing to the vilification of bouncers in the news media in Australia. A manual, 'deep' qualitative analysis was conducted on 10 randomly selected news reports and 80 reports were analysed using the NVivo 10 qualitative software program. The manual analysis has indicated that rhetorical and discursive strategies are used in news reports to undermine bouncers' credibility and portray the industry as staffed with violent, undertrained, criminal individuals. Under- and over-statements, metaphors, and metonymic concepts, together with lexical choice, styles and structures are used freely by the news media to vilify, discriminate against and discredit bouncers. Bouncer 'voices' were excluded in news reports and only the 'voices' of credible 'experts' were quoted or 'heard' to legitimate journalists' claims of violent bouncers. The NVivo analysis showed 809 references to violence in the 80 news reports, with 233 'experts' cited or quoted in the text. There were 130 political abstractions and generalisations and 61 references to criminality. There were also 307 references to power being exerted over bouncers and 519 organisations mentioned in the text. Collectively, industry 'experts' distanced themselves from bouncers involved in violence and the bouncers responsible were 'blamed' for the violence, which supports the political ideology of responsibilisation. It is proposed that lack of state authority, low social status and working in an industry described as 'dirty work' contribute to social perceptions of bouncers as violent thugs

A letter from Australia: addressing deficits in venue security officer training in Cairns

As with other front-line agencies, the role of licensed venue security officers is risky, as they put their bodies on the line at work. As 'the watchers' of public behaviour and disorder, security officers are rarely asked about their needs or how to improve their industry and their role within it. A study of alcohol-related assault in and around licensed premises in inner city of Cairns (far North Queensland, Australia) identified the need for basic training in human behaviour, as it is essential to staff safety and protection. As part of the Cairns study researchers provided this training in response to senior management's request. This article describes the training provided and security officers' responses to it. The industry may be failing licensed venue security officers if rudimentary skills-based learning and workplace health and safety training and support are not addressed

The Cairns Model: evaluating the context of an open-space, closed circuit television system in an urban centre in tropical Australia\ud

Australian and United Kingdom evaluations of open-space, closed circuit television (CCTV) systems in urban areas were reviewed in an attempt to identify elements of good practice and assess the Cairns Regional Council's (CRC) CCTV system against them. Recommended management and operational practices were extracted from peer reviewed public health and criminological literature and government reports. These were grouped by key topics and tabulated. CRC's CCTV manuals were examined. Observational sessions, open-ended discussions and focus groups with operators and stakeholders were used to identify operational and management practices. These were then compared with those found in the literature and the results fed back to Council. We found the Cairns CCTV model generally met recommended guidelines but improvements are possible. This article also situates this study within debate surrounding the adequacy of CCTV evaluation. Our evaluation used a public health 'continuous quality improvement' approach incorporating elements of a criminological 'realist evaluation' methodology. This identified 10 contexts within which to postulate and test, with further research, the mechanisms through which the Cairns CCTV system operates. Implications for improving our understanding of the effectiveness of CCTV are discussed

Comparison of strategic and operational good practice for private security personnel in the night-time economy and the Cairns City model

Private security personnel are the guardians of patrons in the night-time economy (NTE). However, there is a disconcerting lack of research concerning issues for private security personnel specific to the NTE. Such issues include the duty of care, a risk management approach to staff and patron care, code of conduct, interactions with other service agencies, data and information sharing, incident reporting and functions and resource procedures for private security personnel. There is also little research concerning the ability of security personnel to contribute to reducing alcohol-related harm and injury in the NTE through strategic and operational good practices. To fill this gap, interviews and focus groups were carried out in order to document these strategic and operational practices. These were compared with available models in the literature. It was found that the Cairns City model exceeded recommended good practice, particularly through the industries involvement in a community crime prevention frame-work in the NTE