Anklet bracelets for drunks

Chief Minister Adam Giles has suggested chronic alcoholics be fitted with ankle bracelets in a bid to halt the rising levels of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour in Darwin

Courts. Home Detention devices on the ankles of 2 men outside the Adelaide Magistrates court. file pics.

Chief Minister Adam Giles has suggested chronic alcoholics be fitted with ankle bracelets in a bid to halt the rising levels of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour in Darwin.

Mr Giles made the suggestion on ABC radio yesterday morning, saying modelling was underway to determine the strategy as a policy response.

Alcohol-related anti-social behaviour has become an increasing issue in Darwin over the past 12 months.

Last week, the NT News reported on several CBD retailers saying they have had enough of grog-fuelled violence turning people away from the city.

Nightcliff has also been identified as a hot spot for alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour and crime.

“One thing is whether or not we could be putting the ankle bracelets on people who are known to be chronic alcoholics and have been committing crime on our streets, so that is one thing that we are looking at to try,” he told the ABC morning show.

Ankle bracelets are designed to take a swab of sweat off a person, determining if alcohol is present and notifying authorities.

Mr Giles – who earlier this week said those coming to Darwin to get drunk should “piss off” back to their communities – also suggested facial recognition technology as a potential strategy to combat alcohol abuse. “We’re just doing some modelling at the moment to see whether that would work as a policy response, and the other thing we’re looking at whether or not we could replicate what’s happening in nightclubs ... where they use facial recognition to determine whether someone is on an Alcohol Protection Order or not.”

The Labor Opposition has called for a return of the Banned Drinkers Register which sees everyone’s license scanned to determine whether they are allowed to purchase alcohol. But the CLP Government has consistently ruled this out saying it puts the onus back onto those working in takeaway liquor outlets.

Instead, Mr Giles said targeted strategies for each region was the way to go, pointing to the success of Temporary Beat Locations, where police man bottle shops, in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.