The impact of attending alcohol-related incidents on police drinking patterns

Little research has been done that examines the impact of routinely dealing with alcohol-related incidents on police drinking patterns. This study examined the drinking patterns of a sample of employees from an Australian State police service (n = 4193) through the use of a survey (which included the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)). The survey requested officers to estimate the proportion and types of incidents to which they were called that involved alcohol. Analysis revealed that the median estimate, for all officers, of the proportion of incidents involving alcohol in their division was 50-74%. A significant relationship between dealing with alcohol-related incidents and officers' drinking patterns as measured by the AUDIT was also revealed. Assault was the only type of incident to independently predict drinking behaviour. A positive correlation was seen between the proportion of assaults involving alcohol and AUDIT scores.