Rea Tasi-Cordtz is a team leader working with about 40 Campus Watch staff.
At any time eight Campus Watch staff were on patrol.
On Tuesday night the Otago Daily Times was there too to observe what Campus Watch staff and students were doing.
Rather than the expected hordes of drunk students behaving badly and abusing anyone in authority, it was mostly pleasantries being exchanged.
Many of the students were drunk, but they were not behaving badly and greeted Mr Tasi-Cordtz warmly, shook his hand and wished him well for the night.
The job was about building rapport and not taking anything too seriously or personally, he said.
After all, he believed "they are all good kids".
During the two hours spent with him, he said `Hello' to every student he saw.
Interactions varied from wishing them a good night and warning them to lock their flat doors when they went out, to receiving a hug and being invited around for a cup of coffee.
The affectionate lad who welcomed Mr Tasi-Cordtz with open arms had been in trouble during his first year of flatting.
Subsequently, the Campus Watch team built a positive relationship with him and his flatmates.
Now it appeared they were clearly on good terms.
During the walkabout, the main focus was dealing with young drunk people: ensuring a woman who had vomited in a rubbish bin made it home safely, then trying to find a young man who had been drinking and had become separated from his friends.
The peak time for Campus Watch was when the city's bars closed, about 3am, and students began to make their way home, Mr Tasi-Cordtz said.
At this time the team's safety patrol car was in demand, ferrying students and others deemed at risk to their flats or halls of residence.
Mr Tasi-Cordtz said by building rapport with students, respect was gained, which usually stopped incidents from escalating.
At night, Campus Watch staff spent a lot of time closing flat doors.
Students often forgot to secure their properties when they went out at night and the Campus Watch team tried to stop flats being burgled or receiving unwanted visitors.
During the day, team members also spent time talking to students, with the focus turning to informing them about services available and how to keep themselves safe and their flats secure.
The biggest problem the team had was controlling rubbish in the area, he said.
Broken bottles strewn across yards and footpaths were a cause for concern.
Flat occupants who failed to maintain their property had a team member talk to them about appropriate behaviour and the importance of cleaning up.
If the area was kept tidy, it would be treated with more respect, he believed.
From what the Otago Daily Times observed, and what statistics showed about the number of students who had been referred to the proctor last year - 389, down from 403 the previous year - Campus Watch appeared to be reducing anti-social and criminal behaviour.