It comes as people in the city’s student quarter continue to participate in the ‘‘six before 6’’ trend, which involves getting up early to consume six alcoholic beverages before 6am.
St Patrick’s Day operation commander Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said at least 20 extra police would be on duty from 5am today right through to 1am tomorrow, in and around the North Dunedin area.
The 5am start was because during last year’s St Patrick’s Day there were four couch fires before dawn, which sparked national headlines after one was discovered featuring the charred remains of a wallaby, he said.
‘‘The concern for us from last year was bottles thrown and hitting people in the head,’’ Snr Sgt Bond said.
‘‘Both ourselves and St John transported a number of people to hospital for those injuries.
‘‘We’ve been doing some work with those known party holders or hosts around encouraging the glass-free events, but time will tell as to whether that takes effect.’’
Those identified as having thrown glass bottles, generally into crowds, could effectively be charged with assault with a weapon, Snr Sgt Bond said.
Police would also be educating people about not being on roofs or at heights, particularly while under the influence of alcohol, and encouraging them to drink water and eat food throughout the day.
Police earlier this year pointed the finger at out-of-towners, coming to Dunedin for Flo-Week, for ongoing issues such as smashed glass bottles.
Snr Sgt Bond said this was also a concern for St Patrick’s Day.
St Patrick’s Day fell on a Monday last year so the celebrations turned into a long weekend, he said.
‘‘This year it’s a Tuesday, so it’s a concerted effort if they do come down, because they’re breaking up their studies and it’s a different day, or mid-week.
‘‘Traditionally, the non-students have caused more of the problems.’’
Out buying their St Patrick’s Day costumes yesterday were University of Auckland students Julia Coenraads and Chloe Swann. They said they were keen to join the festivities, but planned to keep things sensible.
Asked why they were not staying in Auckland for St Patrick’s Day, Ms Coenraads said it was ‘‘because nothing happens in Auckland’’.
‘‘The most that happens is you wear green and that’s it,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s not really a drinking culture in Auckland.’’
They had also promised to visit a friend in Dunedin, so decided to come down now they were in their final year at university, she said.
She planned to do ‘‘six before 6’’ and they might also split a cask of wine between them.
‘‘We’ve got to fly out the next day.
‘‘We were trying to be smart and we did an evening flight.’’
Ms Coenraads said she wanted to be sensible and planned to go to sleep early last night.
‘‘If it gets rowdy, I would hope it’s not us — it’s, like, other people.’’
A University of Otago spokeswoman said the issue of outsiders in the student community had been a problem for many years.
‘‘Non-students, secondary school students and students from other tertiary institutions from around New Zealand come to Dunedin not just for St Patrick’s Day, but other events on the students’ social calendars.
‘‘The student code of conduct outlines expectations and potential penalties for breaches, but the university has no jurisdiction over those who are not enrolled at Otago.’’
St Patrick’s Day activities in North Dunedin were not university-organised events.
