Two great examples of churnalism from both the BBC and the South Wales Argus with virtually identical articles being published, although the Argus article is written in the present tense and the BBC is written in the future tense. Both articles come from the local beermat producer, Gwent Police and both the BBC and the South Wales Argus have failed to talk to any Newport publicans to actually discover if what the police are telling them is true or not.
From the Argus:
PUBS, bars and clubs in Newport are now glassfree zones on Friday and Saturday nights, Gwent Police said.
PC Rachael Honey has been working closely with local licensees over the past two years to roll out the use of polycarbonate glasses across the city.
Now all licensed premises across the city have made the switch – something the Argus has backed for five years.
In 2010, £5,000 worth of polycarbonate glasses were bought by the Safer Newport Partnership for licensed premises across the city centre and many licensees took up the offer.
All licensed premises, well that's apart from the Murenger, Pen & Wig. Infusion, and Carpenters to name but a few of the places I know still use them.
From the BBC:
Newport city centre will go glass-free on Friday and Saturday nights, Gwent Police has confirmed.
So its not glass free at the moment then? According to the Argus it is.
Now we all want to see a reduction in glass crime but what is the point of the local rozzers claiming that a complete ban will reduce crime? None. On the other hand there has been a reduction in the number of glass attacks in Newport:
27 in 2006/07,
32 in 2007/08,
31 in 2008/09,
16 in 2009/10,
11 in 2010/11
7 between April 2011 and December 2011
So what type of pubs are polycarbonates used in if the smaller pubs like the Murenger, Pen & Wig, Carpenters and Infusion do not use them? Well its the superpubs such as Chaverspoons, Greyhound and Revolution, so the use of polycarbonates has seen a reduction in glass attacks in those pubs that, shall we say are vertical drinking areas and the smaller pubs have carried on using glass and there has still been a reduction in attacks. This just goes to prove that blanket bans do not work and the rozzers should stick to policing, not giving out inaccurate information to the gullible press.
On another note, crime map of Newport is here, notice the correlation between superpubs and crime hotspots?
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