Christchurch city councillors voted unanimously in mid-December to implement the six-month trial ban in Woolston Village, stopping possession and consumption of alcohol in public spaces.
It came after ongoing complaints from residents and businesses tired of continual problems.
The trial ban was backed by police, the city council alcohol licensing team and the medical officer of health.
But just three weeks into the trial, residents and a business say police are not enforcing the ban.
Liquorland Woolston store manager Evan Baker said he and his colleagues phoned the police nine times last week and sent an additional email via the 105 police service.
"We’re doing the right thing, trying to call all the time just to be told that they will send somebody if they can," he said.
"Local representatives and police said they were all for it (the ban), and yet whenever you make a phone call or anything about it, no one actually cares. No one turns up.”
Baker said police did patrol and move beggars initially after a public meeting with residents in November, which aimed to address anti-social behaviour in the area.
"Initially, the police would get out of their cars and walk around the car park, which I think had a really great effect.
"But they only did that for a couple of weeks.
"Once it appeared that things have calmed down a little bit, they just sit in their car and drive through the area."
Residents posted on a social media community group about an intoxicated individual, who they say was abusing and following women in the area.
Police said The Star would need to request the data under the Official Information Act, which gives the police up to 20 working days to respond.
But while they would not provide the data yesterday, Inspector Kelly Larsen said a typical example of how they responded was to provide advice to the person breaching the ban and disposing of that person’s alcohol.
Once the trial ban ends in June, city council staff will assess the effectiveness of it and recommend whether it should be permanent in Woolston.
When it was voted on in mid-December, city councillor Aaron Keown suggested it could also go city-wide.
The decision for the ban in Woolston came a week after the city council decided to gather information and resources needed to develop a local alcohol policy.
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