Ms ANDERSON - 2006-02-14
The rate of alcohol abuse, alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour has, historically, been too high across the Northern Territory. Can the minister please update the House on Northern Territory Police efforts to tackle this issue in Darwin and Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Macdonnell for her question. Everybody in this House would recognise that the problem with alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour across the Northern Territory has been a big issue for many, many years. It is not just an issue for the Northern Territory Police. We all know there are many difficult, complex and underlying causes to this problem.
I would like to talk about the success the police have been having with a couple of operations recently because, as a government, we are attempting to tackle this problem with extra resources, new programs, stronger legislation, and this is all aimed at breaking the cycle of alcohol abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour. Too many of the perpetrators of this violence are repeat offenders with chronic problems with alcohol, and the new package of measures that the government is introducing is all aimed at breaking that cycle. The police are in the front-line of this campaign and they do a very difficult and dangerous job at all times.
In Darwin, patrolling the antisocial behaviour hot spots is best done by specially trained and equipped police officers. Government has announced we will spend $2.4m over the next four years to fund new public place patrols. These patrols are made up of 10 new Aboriginal Community Police Officers and new vehicles. Overall, this has boosted resources available to police to run dedicated and proactive patrols of public spaces.
In the first six weeks of the operation in Darwin, these new Aboriginal Community Police Officers, working with other general duties officers, are starting to make a significant impact. Here are the results in the first six weeks – more than 2700 people have been taken into protective custody to both the sobering-up shelters and the watch-house; more than 3000 litres of alcohol have been tipped out; and more than 7000 people have been moved on before offences were committed. We would all stand here aghast and horrified at those numbers. That is the extent of the underlying problem that has been there for many years, but now the police have the resources to be able to get in there and do the best they can with the legislation and resources they have available.
In Alice Springs, the rates of assaults and violent crime have been too high. It continues to be a major issue, and has been a major issue for many years when you look at the figures. As a result of our Building our Police Force plan, we have an extra 20 officers on the beat in Alice Springs, and a new a 10-member Personal and Domestic Violence Protection Unit was established in March last year as part of our Violent Crime Reduction Strategy. Those officers focus on repeat offenders and victims, and support families with a range of problems.
These units are in all the major centres and early results from Territory-wide figures show that since March 2005 there has been an increase of almost 70% in the number of domestic violence orders issues, and a 40.5% increase in charges against those who breach these orders. This is not an increase in activity; this is a dedicated focus of police resources attacking this issue which was pretty much untouched for many years.
The Territory Response Section officers are also being deployed to Alice Springs to work with local officers on targeted operations. The capacity for the TRS to get out across the Northern Territory is there because of the new extra 150-odd police officers in our police force as a result of the Building our Police Force program. The first operation with the TRS over the Christmas period achieved significant results in Alice Springs, including an 88% increase in the number of people taken into protective custody; a 47% drop in the reports of drunks on the streets; a 37% decrease in general disturbances; a 32% decrease in domestic disturbances; and 1330 litres of alcohol tipped out.
Police are going to run a further campaign with the TRS in March in Alice Springs to coincide with the football season. Police are also considering their campaign against the trafficking, supply and abuse of alcohol, drugs and other substances, including petrol. The newly-formed Substance Abuse Intelligence Desk in Alice Springs, which has only been up and running a few weeks, has already achieved four arrests, one summons, 17 drug-related charges laid, four drug infringement notices issued, 985 grams of cannabis seized; $2500 in cash; and one motor vehicle restrained.
We should all remember that the police are at the front-line of a very difficult job across the Northern Territory. They have been given the extra resources, the additional legislation, and they are starting to make a difference. However, we all know that this issue is much more than a police issue, but we are working on those and other areas. I commend police officers for doing a magnificent job across the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Macdonnell for her question. Everybody in this House would recognise that the problem with alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour across the Northern Territory has been a big issue for many, many years. It is not just an issue for the Northern Territory Police. We all know there are many difficult, complex and underlying causes to this problem.
I would like to talk about the success the police have been having with a couple of operations recently because, as a government, we are attempting to tackle this problem with extra resources, new programs, stronger legislation, and this is all aimed at breaking the cycle of alcohol abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour. Too many of the perpetrators of this violence are repeat offenders with chronic problems with alcohol, and the new package of measures that the government is introducing is all aimed at breaking that cycle. The police are in the front-line of this campaign and they do a very difficult and dangerous job at all times.
In Darwin, patrolling the antisocial behaviour hot spots is best done by specially trained and equipped police officers. Government has announced we will spend $2.4m over the next four years to fund new public place patrols. These patrols are made up of 10 new Aboriginal Community Police Officers and new vehicles. Overall, this has boosted resources available to police to run dedicated and proactive patrols of public spaces.
In the first six weeks of the operation in Darwin, these new Aboriginal Community Police Officers, working with other general duties officers, are starting to make a significant impact. Here are the results in the first six weeks – more than 2700 people have been taken into protective custody to both the sobering-up shelters and the watch-house; more than 3000 litres of alcohol have been tipped out; and more than 7000 people have been moved on before offences were committed. We would all stand here aghast and horrified at those numbers. That is the extent of the underlying problem that has been there for many years, but now the police have the resources to be able to get in there and do the best they can with the legislation and resources they have available.
In Alice Springs, the rates of assaults and violent crime have been too high. It continues to be a major issue, and has been a major issue for many years when you look at the figures. As a result of our Building our Police Force plan, we have an extra 20 officers on the beat in Alice Springs, and a new a 10-member Personal and Domestic Violence Protection Unit was established in March last year as part of our Violent Crime Reduction Strategy. Those officers focus on repeat offenders and victims, and support families with a range of problems.
These units are in all the major centres and early results from Territory-wide figures show that since March 2005 there has been an increase of almost 70% in the number of domestic violence orders issues, and a 40.5% increase in charges against those who breach these orders. This is not an increase in activity; this is a dedicated focus of police resources attacking this issue which was pretty much untouched for many years.
The Territory Response Section officers are also being deployed to Alice Springs to work with local officers on targeted operations. The capacity for the TRS to get out across the Northern Territory is there because of the new extra 150-odd police officers in our police force as a result of the Building our Police Force program. The first operation with the TRS over the Christmas period achieved significant results in Alice Springs, including an 88% increase in the number of people taken into protective custody; a 47% drop in the reports of drunks on the streets; a 37% decrease in general disturbances; a 32% decrease in domestic disturbances; and 1330 litres of alcohol tipped out.
Police are going to run a further campaign with the TRS in March in Alice Springs to coincide with the football season. Police are also considering their campaign against the trafficking, supply and abuse of alcohol, drugs and other substances, including petrol. The newly-formed Substance Abuse Intelligence Desk in Alice Springs, which has only been up and running a few weeks, has already achieved four arrests, one summons, 17 drug-related charges laid, four drug infringement notices issued, 985 grams of cannabis seized; $2500 in cash; and one motor vehicle restrained.
We should all remember that the police are at the front-line of a very difficult job across the Northern Territory. They have been given the extra resources, the additional legislation, and they are starting to make a difference. However, we all know that this issue is much more than a police issue, but we are working on those and other areas. I commend police officers for doing a magnificent job across the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016