| Project title: | Mobile Assistance Patrol |
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| Project type: | Social Crime Prevention |
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| Researchers/contact: | Sumner Fergal Allen |
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| Commencement date: | 1989 |
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| Location: | SA ; Adelaide |
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| Funding body/institution: | Australian Violence Prevention Award 1994 ; Aboriginal Sobriety Group Inc. |
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| Description of the study: | The Mobile Assistance Patrol operates between 5pm and 9am seven days a week in Adelaide. It removes persons in potentially violent situations to places of care, safety and support. It may also intervene in violent or crisis situations and 'defuse' them. |
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| Description of the outcomes: | This program has seen a decrease in the incidence of violence attributable to drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, psychiatric disorders, financial difficulties, legal problems, and domestic disharmony. It is believed that the removal or relocation of intoxicated or otherwise crime prone persons from public places has dramatically decreased the incidence of crime and violence. |
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| Evaluation: | Although no systematic evaluations have been conducted informal evaluations of impact suggest that the police are very happy with the program and say that it keeps people out of prison. |
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