"The majority of those caught were the older generation who, frankly, are old enough to know better."
At the first Dannevirke District Court sitting of the year nine drink drivers appeared, but McKernon said this wasn't a true indication of the actual number charged.
"People caught driving with a breath-alcohol level of between 250 and 400 are ticketed and fined but don't go to court. They also gain 50 demerit points."
But he said locally the majority of police work involved family harm in the home.
"All the different Tararua support agencies meet once a week and each week we are dealing with 10 to 15 new cases of family harm. This is on top of the cases we are already dealing with."
A change to the laws regarding family harm has seen four levels of offending created.
He said a new law regarding strangulation or inhibiting breathing had become a level three offence which carried a maximum jail term of seven years.
"We are charging more people with that offence and this is disturbing."
McKernon said one of the problems facing small towns was the lack of support for the offenders.
"In over half the cases we deal with drugs and alcohol are an issue. Drug users might not always be under the influence, they are just as likely to be coming down from a high."
But he said clearly the district needed more services such as those provided by the MASH Trust.
Becoming a White Ribbon ambassador was a logical step for McKernon.
"Why wouldn't you," he said.
It fits well with his role as prevention officer responsible for family harm, alcohol harm reduction, youth services and road policing.
He is also tasked with increasing the trust and confidence in police within the town.
"I wear a few different hats, but the family harm hat is the biggest because it is the biggest issue in the district.
"White Ribbon is about raising awareness of family harm, getting people's heads out of the sand instead of letting it happen.
"If we can make just a few changes then we may have saved someone's life."
He said reports of family harm came from a number of sources, including the victims, other family members and neighbours, and occasionally the offender.
"We had one person come knocking on the door of the police station at 2 o'clock in the morning to say they had assaulted their partner."
One positive change within the community had been a reduction in youth crime.
"Four or five years ago youth crime was a problem. There were a lot of thefts from cars and houses, but Youth Aid did a lot of work in this area."
McKernon said one fortunate aspect of living in a small community was that if something did happen police generally would find out fairly quickly who was involved.
He said fortunately Dannevirke had a very good CCTV system installed. It was the envy of other centres and this had helped reduce crime.
