Ms McCARTHY - 2005-08-18
The rates of domestic, physical and sexual violence in the Northern Territory have been too high for too long. Would you please update the House on just where the Northern Territory Police is at in dealing with this issue?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arnhem for her question, because she is right: this is a very serious and important issue. The rates of domestic and sexual assaults in the Northern Territory have been too high for too long.
These offences are difficult offences for the police to target and, certainly, in the not-too-distant past, it was made even harder by having an under-resourced and under-funded police force which really only had the capacity to be a reactive police force, as opposed to a police force that is now acting more and more proactively in targeting crime across all of its forms in the Northern Territory.
This government is injecting $75m additional into our police force to see 200 more officers out on the beat by the end of 2006. We have 120 additional in our police force since we came to government four years ago today than we inherited from the previous government. We will certainly start to see police making a difference in what was a key commitment from this government in building a safer Territory.
Ms Carney: I thought sexual assaults were up. They are, they have been going up.
Mr HENDERSON: I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition has had an interest in this area. If she is quiet and listens to the answer, she will see the success that the police are having with some figures that I am about to release.
The police have been able to target crime using an approach that our Commissioner of Police, Mr Paul White, who is doing a fantastic job, brought to the police force involving intelligence-led policing. The first area that was targeted with intelligence-led policing was property crime. As a result of targeting repeat offenders, we have seen property crime rates across the Northern Territory reduce by 50% in four years - a great result. All of us, as local members, receive feedback from our constituents that they see police out on the beat now, that police are responsive, and people are noticing a reduction in property crime.
The next target the commissioner launched over the last six to eight months with the additional resources at his disposal, has been a Violent Crime Reduction Strategy last November. A project team was established to set up initiatives across the Northern Territory. The police now have Domestic and Personal Violence Units in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. There are 24 officers working in these units across the Northern Territory, dedicated to targeting repeat, serial offenders who perpetrate crimes of domestic violence and sexual assaults, using intelligence-led policing principles to target those offenders. These officers work in a very difficult area. There is a lot of trauma and personal tragedy in those areas. These officers, I am sure, have this parliament’s highest esteem; they are getting results.
Territory-wide crime statistics released in July showed a 10% decrease in offences against the person, or 439 less offences over the 12-month period. That is 439 fewer people who were the victims of domestic violence over the last 12 months. Broken down further, there were 333 fewer assaults, representing a 9% decrease and, most significantly, a 25% decrease in sexual assaults with 99 fewer offences. When you read fewer offences, read victims - 99 fewer victims across the Northern Territory. One assault is too many; we all acknowledge that.
Madam Speaker, I put on the record today this House’s appreciation of the work the police are doing in a very difficult area. They are getting results. People should be warned: if you are a repeat perpetrator of these types of crimes, the police will be on to you.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arnhem for her question, because she is right: this is a very serious and important issue. The rates of domestic and sexual assaults in the Northern Territory have been too high for too long.
These offences are difficult offences for the police to target and, certainly, in the not-too-distant past, it was made even harder by having an under-resourced and under-funded police force which really only had the capacity to be a reactive police force, as opposed to a police force that is now acting more and more proactively in targeting crime across all of its forms in the Northern Territory.
This government is injecting $75m additional into our police force to see 200 more officers out on the beat by the end of 2006. We have 120 additional in our police force since we came to government four years ago today than we inherited from the previous government. We will certainly start to see police making a difference in what was a key commitment from this government in building a safer Territory.
Ms Carney: I thought sexual assaults were up. They are, they have been going up.
Mr HENDERSON: I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition has had an interest in this area. If she is quiet and listens to the answer, she will see the success that the police are having with some figures that I am about to release.
The police have been able to target crime using an approach that our Commissioner of Police, Mr Paul White, who is doing a fantastic job, brought to the police force involving intelligence-led policing. The first area that was targeted with intelligence-led policing was property crime. As a result of targeting repeat offenders, we have seen property crime rates across the Northern Territory reduce by 50% in four years - a great result. All of us, as local members, receive feedback from our constituents that they see police out on the beat now, that police are responsive, and people are noticing a reduction in property crime.
The next target the commissioner launched over the last six to eight months with the additional resources at his disposal, has been a Violent Crime Reduction Strategy last November. A project team was established to set up initiatives across the Northern Territory. The police now have Domestic and Personal Violence Units in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. There are 24 officers working in these units across the Northern Territory, dedicated to targeting repeat, serial offenders who perpetrate crimes of domestic violence and sexual assaults, using intelligence-led policing principles to target those offenders. These officers work in a very difficult area. There is a lot of trauma and personal tragedy in those areas. These officers, I am sure, have this parliament’s highest esteem; they are getting results.
Territory-wide crime statistics released in July showed a 10% decrease in offences against the person, or 439 less offences over the 12-month period. That is 439 fewer people who were the victims of domestic violence over the last 12 months. Broken down further, there were 333 fewer assaults, representing a 9% decrease and, most significantly, a 25% decrease in sexual assaults with 99 fewer offences. When you read fewer offences, read victims - 99 fewer victims across the Northern Territory. One assault is too many; we all acknowledge that.
Madam Speaker, I put on the record today this House’s appreciation of the work the police are doing in a very difficult area. They are getting results. People should be warned: if you are a repeat perpetrator of these types of crimes, the police will be on to you.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016