Neil Davidson

Policing The Night-Time Economy In Scottish Towns And Cities

Project Outline

What started as an attempt to create a European-like 'cafe culture' by relaxing drinking laws in order rejuvenate run-down city and town centres, has instead seen a deregulated licensed trade rapidly expand across the UK in the past two decades. Such was the success of this expansion that any sizeable population centre would now be unrecognisable without significant concentrations of pubs, clubs and the other related industries.

However, this growth has been marred by a corresponding growth in levels of crime and disorder taking place in and around the 'night-time economy' (NTE) and represents a significant threat to the maintenance of public order. What we have now is a complex human ecology where pub and club companies and owners, local authorities, national government, judiciary, local residents, revellers, and of course police, all have differing interests and hold competing and contrasting notions what the NTE should be and how it should be regulated.

My research seeks to add to the growing body of literature regarding the NTE, but add further to the debate by a) focussing on the currently under-researched primary public guardians in this literature; the police b) taking the specific example of the currently under-researched country of Scotland as the main case study site c) adding a the 'geography' to the debate by highlighting the spatiality of police work in the NTE and to the theories of power-relations at play within the NTE.

Key Aims

Examine the regulatory and legal framework pertaining to the NTE and assess how this has changed over time
Define what constitutes the NTE in the three case study areas by identifying the major areas of NTE activity and the corresponding facilities and amenities and how this has changed over time
Identify the key stakeholders involved in, or affected by, the policing of the NTE of each of the case study areas including the police, owners/operators of bars/clubs and their private security and personnel, patrons of the NTE, A & E departments, licensing boards, planning department of local authorities etc.
With respect to these stakeholders examine:
- Perceptions of the nature of the NTE in the area, with particular attention to views of crime and disorder;
- Perceptions of the policing of the NTE in terms of resources and deployment, challenges and effectiveness, and inter-agency co-operation;
- Perceptions of how the policing of the NTE might be made more effective;
Draw out the policy implications of the project findings for different stakeholders involved with policing the NTE