Otago coastal acting area commander Inspector Kelvin Lloyd said the new method was introduced because police wanted to stop offenders rather than catch them.
''We are cold-calling people we know that are at risk of offending to see whether there are issues in their lives that were in their lives when they were involved in offending.''
If those issues persisted, police could assist in getting them help, he said.
''The big thing for us at the moment is offenders offending to get methamphetamine. We can't do anything about that, but we can put them in contact with organisations.''
Police started the method shortly before Christmas and it was well received by the handful of prior offenders it was used on, he said.
''Whether they lead to the desired outcome is yet to be seen.''
In January, Dunedin was hit by burglary ''spikes'', which occurred disproportionately in South Dunedin, he said.
Insp Lloyd urged prevention methods for people in wider South Dunedin.
These included talking to their neighbours and reporting if they saw anything suspicious, such as people scoping out houses.
If children came home with suspicious items, parents should inquire where the items came from.
Burglary could be ''traumatic'' as it made people lose their sense of security, Insp Lloyd said.
However, even in South Dunedin, burglary rates were low, compared to some areas of the country, he said.
''We don't want people to think there is any sort of siege going on.''
The problem areas were St Clair around Bedford St, Victoria Rd, Surrey St and up through to Easther Cres; a cluster of residential areas in Hillside Rd, up to King Edward St along Bay View Rd and Kirkcaldy and Bradshaw Sts; and Caversham between Hillside Rd and South Rd.
