CLEVELAND Police are supporting national Alcohol Awareness Week as this year’s theme encourages people to consider their drinking in the context of socialising and relationships.

UK alcohol charity, Alcohol Change UK, is running Alcohol Awareness Week from November 15 to 21.

The theme for 2021 encourages people to think about how alcohol affects the relationships in their life. It recognises that for many alcohol and socialising are linked but also that alcohol can have a detrimental impact on people’s friendships and important relationships.

Cleveland Police said they recognise the links between alcohol and incidents. Officers are called to hundreds of emergencies each year which are reported to be alcohol-related.

The latest available figures for the 12 months until the end of October 2021 show:

  • There were 9,698 incidents recorded as alcohol related, that equates to 6 per cent of all incidents recorded by police being alcohol related. This is similar to the previous 12 month period – which was 6.5 per cent.
  • In total 2,855 violent crimes (this includes homicide and violence with or without injury) during the 12 months to the end of October 2021 were recorded as alcohol related; this equates to 18 per cent of all these types of crimes. This is a similar proportion to the previous 12 month period (19 per cent).

    Superintendent Emily Harrison, Community Safety Superintendent for Cleveland Police, said: “We support Alcohol Awareness Week as an opportunity to recognise the potential harm alcohol can cause in our communities.

“Our data shows evidence that alcohol it is an aggravating factor in many types of offence from antisocial behaviour to domestic abuse.

“In the last year we have seen a small reduction in incidents where alcohol was recorded as a factor and we’d like to see this reduce further.

“We support any attempt to raise awareness on the issue of alcohol-related harm.”