University review confirms links between alcohol pricing and crime

University review confirms links between alcohol pricing and crime. Increasing the price of alcohol is associated with reductions in crime, according to a team of experts from the University of Sheffield, who have carried out a systematic review of published research. Experts from the University´s School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) and the School of Law carried out a rapid evidence assessment of all published studies on the direct effects of alcohol pricing and taxation on alcohol-related crime. International evidence from the review was consistent with previous UK forecasts that levels of crime would decrease following tax/price increases. The independent review sought to provide a timely snapshot of current knowledge on the effects of alcohol pricing on crime to inform Home Office policy-making, and follows previous work for the Department of Health on the effects of alcohol pricing on health and wider social harm. It revealed that the majority of studies found links between increases in the pricing of alcohol and reductions in overall crime rates as well as violent crime. There was also some evidence that increases in alcohol price are associated with reductions in rates of sexual assault and criminal damage.