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Changes in Density of On-Premises Alcohol Outlets and Impact on Violent Crime, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997-2007

Changes in Density of On-Premises Alcohol Outlets and Impact on Violent Crime, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997–2007

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 12 — May 28, 2015

Xingyou Zhang, PhD, MS; Bonnie Hatcher, MPH; Lydia Clarkson, MPH; James Holt, PhD, MPA; Suparna Bagchi, DrPH, MSPH; Dafna Kanny, PhD; Robert D. Brewer, MD, MSPH

Suggested citation for this article: Zhang X, Hatcher B, Clarkson L, Holt J, Bagchi S, Kanny D, et al. Changes in Density of On-Premises Alcohol Outlets and Impact on Violent Crime, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997–2007. Prev Chronic Dis 2015;12:140317. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.140317.

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On this Page

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• Author Information
• References
• Tables

Abstract

Introduction
Regulating alcohol outlet density is an evidence-based strategy for reducing excessive drinking. However, the effect of this strategy on violent crime has not been well characterized. A reduction in alcohol outlet density in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta from 2003 through 2007 provided an opportunity to evaluate this effect.

Methods
We conducted a community-based longitudinal study to evaluate the impact of changes in alcohol outlet density on violent crime in Buckhead compared with 2 other cluster areas in Atlanta (Midtown and Downtown) with high densities of alcohol outlets, from 1997 through 2002 (preintervention) to 2003 through 2007 (postintervention). The relationship between exposures to on-premises retail alcohol outlets and violent crime were assessed by using annual spatially defined indices at the census block level. Multilevel regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between changes in exposure to on-premises alcohol outlets and violent crime while controlling for potential census block-level confounders.

Results
A 3% relative reduction in alcohol outlet density in Buckhead from 1997–2002 to 2003–2007 was associated with a 2-fold greater reduction in exposure to violent crime than occurred in Midtown or Downtown, where exposure to on-premises retail alcohol outlets increased. The magnitude of the association between exposure to alcohol outlets and violent crime was 2 to 5 times greater in Buckhead than in either Midtown or Downtown during the postintervention period.

Conclusions
A modest reduction in alcohol outlet density can substantially reduce exposure to violent crime in neighborhoods with high density of alcohol outlets. Routine monitoring of community exposure to alcohol outlets could also inform the regulation of alcohol outlet density, consistent with Guide to Community Preventive Services recommendations.

Acknowledgments

This article is dedicated to Marsha Brinkley for her leadership in the prevention of excessive alcohol use and for her assistance in conducting this study. The authors also thank Dwayne Jarman, DVM, MPH, and John Horan, MD, MPH, for their help in initiating this study. Bonnie Hatcher was supported by the Applied Epidemiology Fellowship Program administered by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and funded by CDC cooperative agreement no. U60/CCU007277. Her position was also partially funded by the Alcohol Program in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of CDC and by a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the CDC Foundation.

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Author Information

Corresponding Author: Xingyou Zhang, PhD, MS, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy, NE, Mail Stop F78, Atlanta, GA 30341. Telephone: 770-488-5723. Email: gyx8@cdc.gov.

Author Affiliations: Bonnie Hatcher, Lydia Clarkson, Suparna Bagchi, Chronic Diseases, Healthy Behaviors and Injury Epidemiology Section, Georgia Department of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia; James Holt, Dafna Kanny, Robert D. Brewer, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.

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