KEY POINTS:
South Auckland police who recorded a drop in drink-drivers during a weekend blitz are hoping their "anywhere anytime" message might have got through.
But Counties Manukau road policing manager Inspector Heather Wells says it's too soon to say if fears of being caught are the reason police caught fewer drink-drivers at the weekend compared with previous stings.
Of 8412 vehicles stopped at checkpoints, 144 drivers were over the legal limit.
Ms Wells said the number of drivers over the limit was still unacceptable but it was pleasing to report a decline.
Asked of her reasoning for the drop, she said: "I would like to think that hopefully people know that we're going to be out there and are maybe being a little bit more careful. But I don't want to jump to any conclusions - we'll wait until the next one."
Ms Wells said traffic had been light this time compared with other operations, but it had also been at a similar level during a sting in August so she didn't believe that was the reason for the decline. In the August sting, about 9500 vehicles were stopped and 220 drink-drivers caught.
In June, 13,356 vehicles were stopped, netting 274 drink-drivers.
The drop in drink-driving also saw less of the bad behaviour police often dealt with at checkpoints.
In the June blitz, there were 20 arrests for charges including threatening to kill, possessing weapons and refusing to allow blood samples to be taken.
"This time it was quite orderly," Ms Wells said, noting there were nine arrests for people driving stolen vehicles, driving dangerously and possessing drugs.
One driver sparked a car chase which ended when he ditched the car he was driving and ran off on foot. He was caught with the help of the police Eagle helicopter and police dogs.
Bailiffs assisting police helped conduct 67 search warrants and arranged for the payment of almost $90,000 in outstanding fines.
"The results from this weekend still show there are a percentage of drivers on our roads who show a total disregard for the safety of other road users," Ms Wells said.
"Police are committed to continue with this hard-line approach to remove these high-risk offenders to ensure safety for other road users."
She said that with the weather warming up and Labour Weekend holiday looming, police would again be out in force.
