I am very proud to say that I was responsible for bringing this policy to the UK and getting it into law.
When I was Deputy Mayor for Policing in London I was looking for a solution to alcohol driven crime in the capital and I found it in South Dakota of all places. Little did I know the huge battle we would have to get it on the statute book.
My City Hall team, led by Joe Mitton, worked hard to build alliances in both houses of Parliament to finally defeat the Home Office and Department of Justice, amending it into the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
Special mention must go Matthew Offord MP, Baroness Jenkin, Ilora Finlay, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Lord Wasserman, Lord Toby Harris and Baroness Browning all of whom led the charge to force it through. We were assisted and encouraged from behind the scenes by Nick Herbert MP who as policing minister at the time, gave us all the help he could, and supported by Professor Keith Humphreys from Stanford who generously helped us build the case. I am convinced it will revolutionise our approach to dealing with alcohol related problems in public policy.
You can read the BBC article here.