This article makes for good bedtime reading.
It is good to see that the police have made a concentrated effort to do something about generally disgusting behaviour of drunks around New Zealand, this weekend.
It's a shame that this was an operation that appears will end, after the weekend. It's a shame that for some reason, they are not able to be this hard on alcoholic offending, all of the time.
Attitudes need to change in this country. It is not normal to drink every day. It is not normal to not know when you have had enough. It is not normal to drink to get drunk. It is not normal to buy alcohol when your bills are not paid. It is not normal to have to be drunk in order to have fun.
Most New Zealanders just don't get it. This country's attitude towards drinking, and alcohol, are NOT normal.
Police on both sides of the Tasman were out in force this weekend - in a crackdown on 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.
Police across New Zealand reported a successful clampdown.
Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders of Tauranga Police said there were 49 arrests overnight for crimes attributed to alcohol.
"Offences ranged from disorderly behaviour, to breaching the liquor ban, to resisting arrest and using obscene language," he said.
Hastings police said the operation had been "very successful".
Senior Sergeant Fred van Duuren, of Napier police, said there had been a few arrests for drunkenness and disorder, but nothing more than expected at this time of the year.
Revellers in the South Island had also taken notice of the warning.
Senior Sergeant Kerry Joyce, of Christchurch, said there had been 50 arrests over a 24-hour period, which was not unusual.
"We've had a very high police presence which has definitely lessened people's silliness with alcohol," he said.
Officers targeted low level offending relating to alcohol in the central city, before it could escalate, area commander Inspector Derek Erasmus said.
"This removed a significant amount of the instigators of serious crime early on and reduced more serious crime."
Twelve staff on the beat in central Christchurch made 37 arrests over seven hours, from 10pm Saturday until 5am Sunday, for breaches of the liquor ban, fighting, assault, detox - and all were alcohol related, Mr Erasmus said.
"There was plenty happening in terms of drinking," he said.
"There was too much but the biggest issue was that many people were already drunk before coming into town."
The most serious charge in Christchurch last night was for assault with a weapon. The alleged offender had been caught.
Senior Sergeant Dave Kirby said there had been about half the arrests than usual in Invercargill for a weekend.
In Dunedin, Senior Sergeant Bruce Ross said it had been like a typical Saturday night.
"Nothing's shown out at all," he said.
Greymouth police said it had been an ordinary night.
In Nelson, police said it had been a busy night on the streets, but nothing serious.
Police in Wellington and Auckland were not available for comment.
In Australia, NSW police expressed disgust after tallying more than 300 arrests and encountering brawls, assaults and robberies on the second night of the crackdown.
Ad Feedback 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.
Police in both countries said they were fed up with the dangerous binge drinking culture in both countries and were planning a series of joint blitzes to crack down on alcohol-fuelled crime and antisocial behaviour.
They hope to change the culture and challenge people to take responsibility for their own conduct.
Each police district across the two countries was 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," said North Island Central District operations manager Inspector David White.
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