Police join forces in booze crackdown

Police are piggy-backing on an Australian sting and will be using covert methods to nab violent drunks in a two-day operation.

But they have laid out exactly when they are going to swoop, and what they are going to do to catch out-of-control drinkers.

The move is as much to raise awareness about the problems associated with alcohol, estimated to cost Kiwis $5.3 billion a year, as to get offenders behind bars.

Police in Australia and New Zealand announced the crackdown, codenamed Operation Unite, yesterday. Thousands of extra police officers will be deployed in main centres in both countries on December 11 and 12.

The operation will involve using CCTV footage and random breath-testing to catch offenders.

It will be the first time police forces in all states and jurisdictions in the two countries have worked together.

Commissioner Howard Broad said the crackdown was aimed at making people safer and sending a clear message that "enough is enough".

At least a third of all offences recorded by police in 2007-08 were committed after the person had consumed alcohol.

A police spokeswoman said officers from both sides of the Tasman often got together for conferences and to compare methods.

The opportunity to join in a big operation in Australia was too good to miss.