Alice Springs curfew ends; Police Commissioner says ‘no reasonable grounds’ for extension
The latest Alice Springs curfew has come to end, but police have confirmed they will monitor the situation and are prepared to reinstate the measures. Read the reactions from the news.
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Alice Springs’ latest curfew has come to end, with the Police Commissioner “not requesting an extension” of the public disorder declaration placed on the town.
In a statement, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said the declaration would end at 12.55pm on Thursday.
He confirmed no arrest had been made in relation to the latest curfew.
“During the operational hours of the public disorder declaration over three nights, police engaged with 159 people, with 93 directed to leave the area, 20 conveyed into the care of other agencies and 18 removed from the area by police,” he said.
He said police officers responded to a man making threats to a group of people in the zone at 2.25am this morning, but said that no offence had occurred.
“There is currently no reasonable grounds for me to extend the declaration and I am confident we have capable police resourcing in Alice Springs to react and respond to any instances of crime or anti-social behaviour,” he said.
“Policing operations will remain in place across Alice Springs to uphold the law and maintain social order. Operation Grimmel will continue to run within the town, and an additional 10 officers started duty in Alice Springs yesterday with an additional 19 due to start in two weeks with another 15 to be posted to the town at the end of the month.
“The PDD is not a long-term solution, and I am mindful of the impact that decision has had on the broader community. As Commissioner of Police I have a responsibility to listen to the community, to make sure that the best decisions are made to uphold the law and to maintain social order.
“The PDD has assisted in the short term by providing relief to the frontline, but our focus remains on the long term.
“Police will continue to work collectively with government stakeholders, community members, and local service agencies to find long term solutions to the issues currently facing Alice Springs.”
Alice Springs was placed under the curfew from Monday 10pm, July 8.
The curfew was for all residents, and was centred around the Alice Springs CBD and was set between the hours of 10pm at night and ran to 6am in the morning.
Police Minister Brent Potter, speaking in Darwin, said only “one minor incident” had occurred in the bounds of the operation.
He said the police would lead a multi-organisation operation to assist people in returning to their communities and away from the Alice Springs CBD.
“(The operation) will assist people return to country to deal with the influx of visitors we’ve seen in Alice Springs,” Mr Potter said.
“The multi-agency response will focus on supporting rough sleepers to find somewhere to stay or return to country ensuring residents from surrounding town camps are able to safely leave.
“People without a valid reason (to be in) Alice Springs will be supported back to their home and this is part of an ongoing operation to keep residents safe and continue the work done through the curfew.”
He said he believed the curfew had played the role it needed to as a “short, sharp circuit breaker related to alcohol fuelled violence and assaults in the dark”.
Mr Potter confirmed the Police Commissioner was “absolutely” prepared to reinstate a curfew if unrest was to continue over the next few days.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the ongoing unrest, including an incident outside the curfew time on Wednesday relating to a boy’s death in March was “extremely frustrating”.
The disturbance led to five arrests.
“I think they need to get over themselves, it’s extremely frustrating to see these incidents continue on,” Ms Lawler said.
“They need to return to their community, work this out and stop bringing these troubles into Alice Springs, it’s not the place for it and these issues need to be resolved.
Braitling Greens candidate Asta Hill wants to see the conversation redirected towards the broader and underlying issues within Alice Springs.
“It’s time to talk about solutions, to start relying on evidence, and to prioritise community safety over political point scoring,” she said.
“This August, the NT Greens will be bringing a smart approach to community safety that addresses the immediate needs of people, appropriately funds the sectors doing the heavy lifting and relies on approaches that are proven to reduce the likelihood of offending.”
Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said the curfew showed Labor is all out of ideas to keep resident safe in Alice Springs.
“Alice Springs residents do not trust Labor, and they know that Eva Lawler and Chansey Paech have no plan to make locals or tourists feel safe,” she said.
Despite her criticism, however, Ms Finocchiaro said she support Police Commissioner Michael Murphy’s decision to lift the curfew.
“Well the curfew legislation operates so that the Police Commissioner is the one to make the call and we support him entirely in the decision he has taken,” she said.
“What we know - and we agree with him entirely on - is this is not a long-term solution.”
Action for Alice founder Darren Clark said any benefits of the curfew had been “mixed’’.
“It’s not had as much success and cut through as the first one,’’ Mr Clark said.
“The last one was a success and popular with the public.”
Mr Clark said there had also been less visible police presence during the second curfew.
“This one has been nothing like the first one in terms of manpower.’’
He also predicted that “this will happen again in time’’.
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