Level 1 has brought excuses to get "rat-faced", keeping police busy over the weekend.
Alcohol-fuelled violence ramped up and led to a string of arrests, Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said yesterday.
The slip in behaviour seemed to go hand-in-hand with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
"From the release of Level 2 into Level 1, people have been out there and hit it with vengeance ...
"We talked about how good people had been during Covid, but then to let their standards slip and just get rat-faced is really disappointing," Snr Sgt Dinnissen said.
An argument over a game of pool led to two men fighting outside Dunedin’s Baaa Bar, at 9.15pm on Friday.
While police were attending the scene, another fight began between two men inside the bar.
Police also attended three other fights over the weekend, and arrested a 32-year-old man who had wrestled another man to the ground, punching him in the head several times, at 9.30pm on Saturday.
He is due to appear in Dunedin District Court today.
Later on Saturday night, a 39-year-old man spat on a police officer’s face while being charged with disorder.
He was seen getting into the driver’s seat of a car parked in the Octagon while drunk.
When questioned by police, the man shouted racial abuse at the officers and was arrested for disorder.
Snr Sgt Dinnissen said the man was also charged with assaulting a police officer and was found to have a small amount of drugs on him.
An 18-year-old man who was frustrated after being unable to log on with his phone to use a Lime scooter, began throwing scooters on to Frederick St.
He was arrested for disorder.
A drunk learner driver crashed into several cars in King Edward St, causing major traffic congestion.
The 26-year-old man was arrested and there were no injuries.
