Reply to: Private drunk tanks - Yea or Nay?

[socialworker]

Nope won't work.

You have:
1. The mentally ill who can't even agree to contracts when sober
2. The people with hidden illnesses who are mistaken for drunks.
3. Those who get attacked/injure them selves when drunk

Finally drunks often vomit when passed out - if they die in the hands of a private company the private company will eventually be taken to the cleaners by a family. Remember everyone from Tony Blair's children have been caught out of it.

Are you sure you aren't a social worker?

Don't forget the first time the police pick up someone who is actually suffering from a head injury or other illness and they die because of the delay in them getting medical treatment. They recently tasered a middle aged blind man who 'd had a stroke, mixing him up with the 20 year old they were looking for.

[vetran]

If a typical pissed person spent (say) 50 quid on getting rat arsed and the government creams off at least half that in taxes (rates, VAT, alcohol tax etc). The Government are making a fortune out of people getting pissed but they begrudge having to deal with the 0.1% of people who cause a problem and end up in jail/hospital.

Stuff them! We've paid our taxes so let's have some proper policing on the streets and decent A&E services at hospitals.



One could argue that all the sports injuries which flood into A&E on a weekend are a drain on the health service too...

BBC News | UK | Cost of crime hits £60bn

On average a violent crime involving wounding costs £19,000 comprising pain and loss for the victim, medical costs and police investigation time.

so assuming each night out you drink x pints at £3.20 41% (£1.31) goes directly to the government, 1 in 1000 everyone would need to buy 14.5 pints to pay for one wounding incident.

Tax avoidance for all and how to halve the price of beer – Telegraph Blogs

From my memories of nights out punch ups were common every weekend night.

All hospital incidents cost money, but alcohol related ones are almost entirely preventable with proper policing.

[SueEllen]

One could argue that all the sports injuries which flood into A&E on a weekend are a drain on the health service too...

They will start doing that next - if you do any exercise you need to have extra insurance in case you need to use the NHS. After all if you can afford to exercise ......

[SueEllen]

But Gordon Brown managed to be PM

There are a few successful business people around who have mental health issues so it's not surprising.

The police just get the ones who self medicate with loads of alcohol.

[Wanderer]

If a typical pissed person spent (say) 50 quid on getting rat arsed and the government creams off at least half that in taxes (rates, VAT, alcohol tax etc). The Government are making a fortune out of people getting pissed but they begrudge having to deal with the 0.1% of people who cause a problem and end up in jail/hospital.

Stuff them! We've paid our taxes so let's have some proper policing on the streets and decent A&E services at hospitals.

Quite why hospitals treat anyone who is drunk is beyond me.

One could argue that all the sports injuries which flood into A&E on a weekend are a drain on the health service too...

[amcdonald]

Nope won't work.

You have:
1. The mentally ill who can't even agree to contracts when sober

But Gordon Brown managed to be PM

[SueEllen]

Nope won't work.

You have:
1. The mentally ill who can't even agree to contracts when sober
2. The people with hidden illnesses who are mistaken for drunks.
3. Those who get attacked/injure them selves when drunk

Finally drunks often vomit when passed out - if they die in the hands of a private company the private company will eventually be taken to the cleaners by a family. Remember everyone from Tony Blair's children have been caught out of it.

[Ticktock]

I'd have thought they'd just set it up so that the fine was imposed by the police, and then a portion of that paid to the private facilities for their services.

So for the "customer" it would be the same as currently being fined for drunk and disorderly.

[DodgyAgent]

They should patch up the Costa Concordia and send it up the Clyde

[vetran]

normal pub hours only applied to pubs though, clubs and bars could get late licenses. Judging on my town, the majority of (problem) drinking is in clubs and bars anyway.

yes but prior to the licensing reforms late licenses were difficult to get and policed by the Police & Council. They were easy to take away!

[KentPhilip]

Nay,

Whose is going to do the arresting?
What happens when business is slow and the private firm starts to make a loss?
Being drunk is subjective and open to abuse if there's money to be made.

+1

A private firm is not able to extract money from people without agreement from them (a contract), and as most drunks would refuse to go into a drunk tank if they knew it will cost £400 it is not likely to be possible to form a contract.
Even with a contract the private firm would have to go to the small claims court to get the money if the drunk didn't want to pay (leading to CCJ's, bailiffs)

Giving private firms to issue "fines" in the same manner as the state can would be a breach of habeas corpus, overturning of which would be a BIG step for the government (and one few would support, including me).

[d000hg]

normal pub hours only applied to pubs though, clubs and bars could get late licenses. Judging on my town, the majority of (problem) drinking is in clubs and bars anyway.

[vetran]

I'm all for effective policing.

Up the fines for drunk & disorderly, indecent behaviour (yes girls urinating in the street is a crime) and actually prosecute etc

Have a policeman in Duty in busy casualties at nights. I expect they would arrest quite a few known criminals as well.

People behave mainly as expected and directed if you expect them to behave 99.9 % will do. If you let them get stupidly drunk and into fights then they will.

A private organisation won't solve a woeful lack of policing. It will however bring lots of problems of its own.

Reverse Bliar's stupid idea of the 24hr smashed society as well.

[doodab]

Plus, what about alcoholics?

I'd be all in favour of a cheap bed for the night. I don't think it should be punitive though. And obviously you don't want to be sleeping in the same bed that some pissed twat has pissed and vomited in the night before.

[d000hg]

New law to dock JSA then.
Something very wrong if people are spending that on booze.
FFS sometimes I despair of the stupidity (or maybe "spoiledness", to coin a term) of the populace.

Change the law so that you can stop their benefit if they don't pay the fine, problem solved

This could realistically only be used as a threat though. Stopping giving them food isn't going to mean they can pay the fine, it just means they will starve. No government will do that so it's an empty threat.

Plus, what about alcoholics?