On Saturday night, someone at Manukau Police conducted a social media experiment. They tweeted a Saturday shift as it happened. The results, which I've collected below, fall easily into a narrative.
It's a story of small incidents: on the road, in the home, often involving alcohol. There's the odd bit of humour ("Goat on expressway not found") and moments of relief ("After assessment by doctor, the child hit by the car is not going to hospital") but it's largely quietly depressing. There's a lot of violence.
Having agents of state bear their own witness is no substitute for journalistic scrutiny, but I do think it's useful when the police and other agencies can do this kind of thing well. It is worth knowing what happens on a Saturday night.