EMPTY spirit and other alcohol bottles discarded in alleyways behind Jackson Street and Chapel Street in Masterton suggest police surveillance cameras may have caused street drinkers to get cunning.
In behind the buildings drinkers can dodge the watchful eye of the cameras and avoid being picked up for breaching the town's
central business area liquor ban.
The police camera on the corner of Chapel Street and Jackson Street sweeps a large area but empty bottles, which are particularly numerous after weekends, indicate drinkers have cottoned on to the surveillance cameras and have taken to sly sipping out of the way.
The liquor ban area takes in the whole Masterton central business district and applies Thursday through to Saturday night.
Masterton police senior sergeant Warwick Burr said they weren't aware of any change in drinkers' habits, such as sneaking out of view of the cameras, since they came into service.
"This is the first I've heard about it. We really need to take a look over a couple of weeks to see if there is a pattern there," he said.
Mr Burr said there could be different reason for the bottles in the alleyways.
"How did they get there? Are they going down the alley drinking? Are people littering? Or is it at times when there is no liquor ban in force?"
Police say the cameras are being used as just one of the tools in policing crime in central Masterton.
They say they have already seen benefits in places such as the service station forecourts and on the streets footpaths where people congregate.
The statistics for cameras operation will not come out until the end of the year, after they have been operating for 12 months, and then police will have a better idea of their effectiveness..
Mr Burr said early indications suggest the cameras are having a positive effect in controlling crime in the town centre, particularly offences involving violence or disorder.
Eight people were arrested and charged with breaching the liquor ban at the weekend. It was not known if these people were discovered with the aid of the surveillance cameras.
