NHTSA Report Year 4: Place of Last Drink (POLD): Opportunity for Expanding POLD Investigations to Alcohol-Involved Violent Crime Incidents

The mission of the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery (Vermont DLL) Division of Liquor Control is to serve the public by preventing the misuse of alcohol and tobacco through controlled distribution, enforcement, education, and by providing excellent customer service by operating efficient, convenient liquor agency stores. The Office of Compliance and Enforcement (OCE) is charged with investigating possible violations of liquor laws and regulations and carrying out enforcement activities related to those incidents.1

Vermont DLL is partnering with the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a five-year evaluation of some of its initiatives. This report is the fourth in a series of case studies and continues examination of Place of Last Drink (POLD), an initiative that seeks to identify a licensed alcohol establishment where someone involved in an alcohol-involved incident consumed their last alcoholic beverage.2 This report builds on the previous three years of evaluation. The year one study examined the projectR.A.B.I.T. data dashboard. Years two and three focused on examining POLD, looking at implementation of POLD in year two and examining implementation of POLD based on a University of Minnesota framework,3 outlet density and POLD incidents, and staffing capacity of Vermont compared to national averages (based on a capacity study conducted for the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, BABLO).4

The current case study continues examination of POLD, looking at investigator time required to implement POLD, investigator perceptions of implementation strengths and challenges, and examining potential staffing resources that would be necessary to expand POLD investigations to other alcohol-involved incidents.