Who? The town's community guides who have been patrolling the resort's streets for the past three months.
As the trial draws to a close, guides Tamah Carson, Mike Blissett, Dean Swain and Richard Cottier, with Queenstown Lakes District Council curbing alcohol-related violence (Carv) officer Merv Aoake, said they had enjoyed making a difference on the streets of downtown Queenstown.
Good humoured but firm when required and with a prevention-is-better-than-cure approach to tackling loutish behaviour in the wee small hours, the guides said they expected people to enjoy themselves but not at the expense of someone else's enjoyment.
However, they said there had been an overwhelmingly positive response from residents and visitors and they had built a good rapport with night workers.
The guides have worked in pairs on split shifts every weekend since late June, in all weathers and in temperatures down to at least -5degC.
Mr Blissett, a British police officer for 22 years, said their work could not be quantified.
"If we see a group of youths jumping on statues, for instance, as soon as they see the high-visibility jackets they scarper."
Ms Carson, who is looking forward to a career with the police, said: "We saw two young Kiwi guys running down the mall towards the wharf and as they ran around they picked up the sign outside Prime.
"They tried to break it then threw it in the lake.
"While we rang the police we followed them and saw them knocking over chairs and by that time the police were around the corner."
The guides saw themselves as a support arm of the police but with a different role.
They described the relationship with Queenstown's constabulary as very good and guides met officers every night at 10.30pm at the station for a debrief.
Mr Blissett said there had been a few potshots at the guides but nothing compared to the abuse hurled at police.
"The usual sentiment is `thank goodness you're not cops because we'd have probably ended up arrested'.
"If there's a fight we have to assess the situation and decide if we should call the police or explain the repercussions and defuse the situation.
"It's a different response."
Revellers have given the guides plenty of friendly hugs as they patrolled the streets and the guides have witnessed several incidents of unusual public behaviour.
A group of lads stripped down to their birthday suits when it was -4degC and dared each other to take a dip in Lake Wakatipu.
The guides politely asked them to put their clothes back on.
"We saw 10 people trying to get on the moa statue," Ms Carson said.
"Allegedly the previous record was nine.
"They did climb down when asked but they succeeded in breaking the record."
However, intoxicated men and women urinating in the middle of streets, in doorways or against vehicles infuriated the guides the most.
They directed the miscreants towards public toilets, which were often only metres away.
"Their usual reaction is immediately apologetic, probably because they've been busted," Ms Carson said.
The guides had acted as walking information services to tourists.
They were also trained in first aid and had treated lacerations after fights.
There had only been one occasion when they had to call Wakatipu St John - when a drunken man tried to jump from the roof of Winnies to Chicos and missed - but medics were already on the scene via the police.
Guides also kept a lookout for damage such as potholes in pavements and report to the council for repairs.
When they found smashed windows, they waited at the property for police officers who in turn contacted the key holder.
The guides said they wanted to see the initiative carried on in the summer months on extended hours and could see the benefit of freeing up the police to handle more serious offences.
They said they wanted to see all door supervisors trained in conflict management and to refuse entry to intoxicated people to curb alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour on the streets.
They also urged all bar staff to recognise drunken behaviour and not serve patrons who had had enough, and for bar managers to make staff training their responsibility.
