Does a Place of Last Drink (POLD) Initiative Affect Alcohol Serving Staff Attitudes and Perceptions Related to Overservice of Alcohol?

Background: One enforcement strategy used to address illegal sales of alcohol to intoxicated patrons (i.e., overservice) is Place of Last Drink (POLD). When law enforcement responds to an alcohol-related incident, they ask persons involved in the incident where they had their last drink; POLD data can then be used to track patterns of overservice. Methods: We evaluated potential effects of a POLD initiative in one state (USA) on the attitudes and perceptions of serving staff (i.e., bartenders and servers) about their experiences in refusing sales to intoxicated customers. We conducted interviews with 44 serving staff across 24 communities (14 communities that participated in the POLD initiative and 10 comparison communities). We analyzed the interview transcripts using a qualitative matrix to identify major themes. Results: We found few differences across the two study conditions, with interview participants having no apparent awareness of POLD and many stating that overservice occurs frequently without law enforcement getting involved. One difference we identified was serving staff from communities in the POLD initiative reporting generally positive experiences with their managers when refusing sales to intoxicated patrons, whereas serving staff in comparison communities more commonly saying they were overruled by their managers. It is possible that these differences are the result of the POLD initiative; however, more research is needed. Conclusions: In general, serving staff across communities share many similar perceptions and attitudes around overservice. These findings can inform future implementation of POLD and other strategies to reduce overservice of alcohol.