"We tried it in the past and it's a lot of work for little result," Dunedin-Clutha area commander Inspector Dave Campbell said.
"Our experience has been that the television stations have resisted our attempts to get copies of footage, the quality of YouTube is not sufficient for identification and, this time, togas would make it difficult to identify people by their clothing, so unfortunately we might have to accept a bit of realism here."
However, after viewing some YouTube footage police were "definitely unhappy" about the number of people who crowded on to verandas in George St to pelt paraders.
"There's a safety issue there. I don't know what those verandas are built to handle, but from what I've seen . . . there were significant numbers of people out on those verandas."
The University of Otago proctor would contact the occupants of the flats above George St this week, he said.
Insp Campbell said he would also look into one George St retailer's concerns that police did not respond to her requests for them to move people off the verandas before the parade.
The Dolls House Dance Shop manager Diana Struthers said she became concerned about safety when up to 100 people suddenly moved out on to the verandas outside two George St flats about 5.45pm.
She went to the Central Dunedin Police Station and talked to an officer who said a patrol would take a look.
She did not see one arrive, so phoned the station and was told a car was in the area.
"I told them every time that I was concerned about the verandas collapsing, like they did when that person died during the Hero parade years ago. It was a matter of public safety . . . I didn't even know it was the parade day at that point."
A further call met with the same response, but the crowds on the verandas remained.
By then, she was hiding in the shop as eggs pelted the windows.
"I thought my windows were going to break, I was scared and I was in tears and I don't normally cry," the mother of seven said.
She hoped the annual toga parade was not going to be the victim of what happened, because that would not prevent the behaviour recurring.
A quicker, more sensible response was required on the day.
"There were too many people on the verandas, and how do you deal with that? You get them off."
The police, the university and the Dunedin City Council needed to get smarter about how they responded to these things, she said.
The tenants who allowed people on to their verandas should be made to take some responsibility.
Insp Campbell said he was looking in to Ms Struthers' calls, but said he would have expected that if someone reported what they thought was a public safety issue, it would be investigated by police.
A significant issue was the timing of the parade, he said.
It was clear that between the 6.30pm time, when parade participants gathered and made a false start, and 7.30pm when police understood the parade was to start, numbers along the parade route swelled, he said.
Extra staff were rostered to start for 7pm, but "when the parade started earlier we were caught unawares".
Otago University Students Association president Edwin Darlow said last night three colleges turned up early.
All college masters were invited to an Orientation briefing where they were told the correct time and that it had been changed from previous years to reduce the time between the parade and the later toga party on campus in the Union Hall.
All colleges were also reminded on the day, he said.
The OUSA had received about 10 verbal or email communications regarding damage to property during the parade, but had not yet received any bills.
