Northern Territory government outlines measures to deal with crime in the town

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory government is sending more police to Alice Springs and has outlined a new mandatory program for young people who come into contact with police.

Transcript

00:00Well, it's been one night since the Chief Minister and Police Commissioner touched down

00:06in Alice Springs and announced a number of changes after a series of increasingly violent

00:13criminal incidents in the town.

00:15They said that they will be repurposing Operation Ludlow, where officers will be moving to focus

00:21more on the suburbs of Alice Springs and away from hotspots in the CBD after a number of

00:28serious incidents that have occurred there in recent days.

00:32There are more police expected to arrive in Alice Springs in coming days, but we don't

00:37know exactly when or how many we can expect to be redeployed to the town.

00:43The overnight watch commander for the Northern Territory Police hailed the restructured operation

00:48as successful so far, saying that there had been four break-ins and one stolen motor vehicle

00:54in Alice Springs in the overnight period, which was a moderate reduction from what has

01:00been seen in recent days and weeks.

01:02The Chief Minister and Police Commissioner travelled to Alice Springs yesterday in response

01:07to a serious aggravated burglary that occurred in the suburb of Larapinta.

01:13It's alleged that two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, one who was on bail and the other with

01:19an outstanding warrant for his arrest, allegedly broke into a home that was occupied by a mother

01:25and four children.

01:27They said that the teenagers allegedly used a metal pole to assault the mother and her

01:32two-month-old infant, who she was holding in her arms.

01:36The infant has suffered a fractured skull and was transported to Adelaide for further

01:41treatment but is recovering in hospital now.

01:45About a dozen angry and frustrated Alice Springs locals arrived at the police station

01:50here behind me in an attempt to confront the Chief Minister and share their frustrations

01:55with her about the situation in Alice Springs.

01:58Here's what one of them had to say.

02:01Local proud Alice Springs resident.

02:03It's something that we all deal with day in day out so it's getting pretty scary.

02:07I mean we all sort of know the good, the bad and the ugly of any community, our community

02:12and the good always outweighs the bad but the balance is tipping the other way pretty

02:17rapidly unfortunately and tipping over from not just chucking rocks and stealing cars.

02:24This is, you know, we've got a baby in a critical condition, you know, a female's been raped.

02:30You've got a right to go home and be safe and this is Australia, you know, I'm not just

02:34talking Alice Springs here, we're talking Australia and I think the fabric of society

02:39is broken down.

02:40I think the government has lost control, not just of Alice Springs and the Northern Territory,

02:43I think they've lost control of Australia to be honest and, you know, I've got a business,

02:48I've got a family, I've got a wife, I've got a granddaughter.

02:51We all deserve to be safe, mate.

02:52This morning the Northern Territory government announced a new circuit breaker program that

02:56would combine work between three Northern Territory departments, health, education and

03:01children and families and that would see a response to children found on the streets

03:07at night time with a mandatory referral to child protection services.

03:12The first step would be to attempt to find the children a safe space for the night with

03:17family.

03:18The following day meetings would commence with the families as well as then with the

03:22Department of Education to understand if the child is attending school and if not, why

03:27not, as well as looking at programs to re-engage the young person and deter them from their

03:32anti-social behaviour.

03:34Take a listen to what the Minister for Children and Families had to say.

03:38Working with the families, we're saying to them, you can't walk away from your responsibility

03:41in this.

03:42You have an obligation to make sure that your children are safe, are well cared for, are

03:47attending school and are not engaging in behaviour that is detrimental to the community.

03:52So working with the family, we can then address and look to see why the child might be out

03:56on the street.

03:57So for example, if we have a situation where there's domestic violence, there's alcohol

04:01abuse, we can then look to refer the family members who are suffering in that space to

04:06the appropriate programs to support them as well.

04:09Now much of this work would have or should have already been occurring as it is the job

04:14of child protection services to engage with people, particularly young people that have

04:19been referred to them.

04:20Now as this work gets underway, residents in Alice Springs are continuing to demand

04:26measures that will address both short-term and long-term drivers of crime in Alice Springs,

04:33particularly as the school holidays commence today.

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