Nearly 100 Clients Used Sobering-Up Centre Services in January

Last month, a record was set—93 people were taken to the sobering-up centre. This is a very high number, as it does not include those intoxicated persons who were taken to their homes, notes Uģis Ulmanis, Chief of the Ogre Municipal Police.

The Chief of the Municipal Police emphasises that at least one-third of the alcohol consumers last month were visitors from elsewhere. 

"A peculiar form of tourism has emerged—alcohol tourism. Most are residents of neighbouring municipalities, as Ogre has shopping centres and entertainment venues. Residents often have to deal with these nuisances because alcohol tourists look for warmer places to sleep off their intoxication in cold weather, and these are often the stairwells of apartment buildings, bus stations and railway station waiting rooms," says U. Ulmanis.

People who have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol are taken to the sobering-up centre not only from the streets, stairwells of apartment buildings, bus stations, railway stations and other public places, but also from homes after family conflicts, so as not to endanger relatives and children.

"The number of clients increases during the winter period. On average, there are three or four people a day, but there are cases when police officers take as many as seven people to the sobering-up centre in a single day. It is positive that such a service is available," notes U. Ulmanis.  

The medical sobering-up centre in Ogre, at 3 Vidzemes Street, opened in the spring of last year, but due to a lack of funds it did not accept clients for approximately two months in the autumn. It resumed operations in November and can once again accommodate intoxicated persons.

It has previously been reported that during the first week of the New Year, a resident of Ogre Municipality whose declared place of residence is Mazozoli Parish was taken to the medical sobering-up centre six times in one week. 

The person has not changed his lifestyle, and just recently, on 8 February, he was once again taken to the sobering-up centre from the stairwell of an Ogre apartment building, heavily intoxicated with an alcohol concentration of 4.9 promille. The list of administrative offences committed by the man, born in 1968, already exceeds four A4 pages.

"This is no cause for optimism, as some members of society drink themselves into unconsciousness, and some even to the point of death. Recently, a record number of alcohol consumers have come to the attention of the Municipal Police. They are people with high blood alcohol levels, and they are also aggressive," U. Ulmanis acknowledges.