Does Joining the Police Service Drive You to Drink? A longitudinal study of the drinking habits of police recruits

Abstract

The current study tracks the drinking behaviour of new police recruits from their first day in the academy, after 6 months of training, through to one year into training (n = 177). Drinking behaviour was assessed with the AUDIT, a well-researched instrument for assessing risk of harm from drinking behaviour. The results showed that recruits' risk of harm from alcohol consumption increased as their training progressed. These findings, based on a longitudinal methodology, suggest that the police service and training process introduces recruits into a culture of alcohol consumption which may impact on their individual consumption levels.