-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
Extra police will be on patrol in cities and towns across the country on Saturday as one of the biggest weekends of Christmas partying kicks into its second night.
Police on both sides of the Tasman are out in force this weekend, hoping to ensure Christmas is merry, but not a season of alcohol related crime.
Operation Unite is the first joint operation of its type between the two countries and the blitz kicked off this weekend with a new focus on people arriving in town after getting drunk at home.
Inspector Gavin MacDonald and his team will breath test around 15,000 drivers at multiple check points in Auckland.
In just a few hours since setting up they have had six people fail.
"A recidivist drunk driver and he had a 8-year-old boy in the back of the car, unfortunately it's not a rare event," says MacDonald, Auckland city road policing manager.
Alcohol-related crime costs annually costs New Zealand $1.1 billion and Australia $2.14 billion.
In New Zealand a third of crimes in 2007-2008 were carried out by a person affected by alcohol and in serious offences, such as homicides, it was about half of cases.
Each year police here take 21,000 drunk people home or to the cells because they cannot remember where they live.
While the police are keeping an eye on things this weekend, one bar owner says there needs to be harsher punishment for trouble makers.
"In a culture of almost hero worship of drunken and anti-social behaviour rather than been seen to as a bad thing. It's (drunken behaviour) seen as a positive," says John Lawrenson, bar owner.
Now, police in both countries say they were fed up with the dangerous binge drinking culture in both countries and have planned a series of joint blitzes to crack down on alcohol-fuelled crime and antisocial behaviour.
NZ Police Assistant Commissioner Viv Rickard says they did not want to spoil people's fun but wanted them to take responsibility for their friends and to get home safely.
They hope to change the culture and challenge people to take responsibility for their own conduct.
Each police district across the two countries will be undertaking various methods of cracking down with many targeting licensed premises, central business districts and drink drivers.
"We expect high spirits as people take advantage of the summer festivities, but year on year there are those that take it too far, drink excessively and make very poor decisions. We won't be just standing back and letting this happen," says North Island central district operations manager Inspector David White.
Latest NZ News Video
-
ONE News Minute 9am update: May 26 (1:00)
-
Kids cough up $14m for Government (1:50)
-
Education ministry 'barbaric' (1:55)
