医院助警察减少犯罪
http://www.100md.com
2000年12月19日
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hospitals can help the police reduce community violence by recording injuries that show up in the local emergency department, British researchers suggest.
Injury data can help pinpoint local hotspots of violence and improve police patrolling, Jonathan Shepherd and colleagues write in a letter published in the December 16th issue of the British Medical Journal.
In the United Kingdom, police investigate 25% to 50% of offenses that result in emergency treatment. A study of emergency departments in Bristol, UK, found that assaults on men and those occurring in bars, nightclubs and public streets are less likely to be recorded by police--even those assaults that result in very serious injuries.
Hospital information provided more accurate and more complete information than police records did, the authors point out, and collaborating data could improve policing and also act as a measure of police performance.
``Healthcare is often the only public service which knows about many violent offenses,'' the authors note.
In a new government initiative, the UK will be expanding a data-sharing pilot program in South Wales initiated by a violence prevention group. On a monthly basis, hospitals will provide the police with non-confidential group information about where, when and how injuries occurred.
The new information enables more thorough coverage of community violence by giving police important local information, such as the location, time, and type of incident as well as the weapon used.
In South Wales, where the pilot program was initiated, shared information has already resulted in a new police focus on managing public alcohol consumption.
Sharing programs like that in the UK may prove to be a boon to local communities, the authors suggest, as long as patients' confidentiality is respected.
``A medical perspective of violence combined with the traditional police perspective has already begun to reap rewards. Based on a sound ethical framework to protect the interests of patients, it is a rational step towards safer and more just communities,'' Shepherd and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2000;321:1481-1482., http://www.100md.com
Injury data can help pinpoint local hotspots of violence and improve police patrolling, Jonathan Shepherd and colleagues write in a letter published in the December 16th issue of the British Medical Journal.
In the United Kingdom, police investigate 25% to 50% of offenses that result in emergency treatment. A study of emergency departments in Bristol, UK, found that assaults on men and those occurring in bars, nightclubs and public streets are less likely to be recorded by police--even those assaults that result in very serious injuries.
Hospital information provided more accurate and more complete information than police records did, the authors point out, and collaborating data could improve policing and also act as a measure of police performance.
``Healthcare is often the only public service which knows about many violent offenses,'' the authors note.
In a new government initiative, the UK will be expanding a data-sharing pilot program in South Wales initiated by a violence prevention group. On a monthly basis, hospitals will provide the police with non-confidential group information about where, when and how injuries occurred.
The new information enables more thorough coverage of community violence by giving police important local information, such as the location, time, and type of incident as well as the weapon used.
In South Wales, where the pilot program was initiated, shared information has already resulted in a new police focus on managing public alcohol consumption.
Sharing programs like that in the UK may prove to be a boon to local communities, the authors suggest, as long as patients' confidentiality is respected.
``A medical perspective of violence combined with the traditional police perspective has already begun to reap rewards. Based on a sound ethical framework to protect the interests of patients, it is a rational step towards safer and more just communities,'' Shepherd and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2000;321:1481-1482., http://www.100md.com