Police say they are in a challenged environment in Alice Springs

OVERWHELMED Red Centre police have spoken to Alice Springs leaders about the relentless crime battle they keep facing

NT Police have spoken to leaders about crime in Alice Springs.

• Break-in costs Alice Springs business $25k after machine destroyed in fire
• Alice Springs is ‘losing control of law and order’: Robyn Lambley
• ‘Heartbreaking’: Small Outback business, the Ross River Resort, loses thousands in break-in
• Police arrest two 10-year-olds in Tennant Creek after group allegedly threatens servo staff with sticks, rocks

OVERWHELMED Red Centre police have spoken to Alice Springs leaders about the battle they face keeping the town’s youth out of trouble under the cover of darkness.

There can be about 20 police officers on the night shift in Alice Springs but it’s still not enough to protect the community from youth breaking the law.

In a meeting at Alice Springs Town Council chambers on Tuesday night, police said ill-behaved nocturnal children were wreaking havoc in the community.

MORE CENTRALIAN NEWS

Jacinta Price appointed new deputy mayor of Alice Springs

‘I’m strongest when in the bush’: Gwoja MLA Chansey Paech reveals aspirations for Central Australia

New locally-created app teaches Alice Springs’ first language, Arrernte

According to the officers, the increase in youth crime in town can be attributed to the recent football games, a prominent court case and other events such as Red CentreNATS.

Commander Southern Command Craig Laidler said police were working towards measures which would see changes in behaviour where youths would follow what society would “consider to be a normal pattern”.

“The long-term aim is we shift their structure so they have the right examples of getting up at a reasonable hour of the morning and looking to have a productive day, and are home or playing sport or undertaking education and being home in bed overnight,” Commander Laidler said.

“At the moment it’s quite the opposite where they’re up all night and asleep for large portions of the day.

“What we’re finding with the youth problem is that it’s a mixture of youths from out of town, as well as from in town.

Child's hands handcuffed, juvenile crime.

“One concern is recidivist offenders that we have to deal with over and over again.”

He said police were adjusting to a different working environment with 12-hour rosters, which he described as “very challenging”. “We’ve got a reduction or cap across what leave they’re able to take.

“We are looking at our plans moving forward as to how we tackle those changes coming out of biosecurity lockdown but also into what we know is such a busy time of the year as we head into the warmer weather.”

Commander Laidler said police involvement in town camps was an option being explored, and police were introducing a new measure with the recruitment of 22 Aboriginal liaison officers across the Territory, including four in Alice Springs.

Araluen MLA Robyn Lambley said Alice Springs was at “breaking point” and residents were “broadly in support of a curfew for children”.

She said there were “more street brawls, more cars speeding recklessly … greater tension and more kids brazenly misbehaving at night”.

“Given the current lawlessness in town, we should also be considering a temporary crisis lockdown to de-escalate and diffuse the tension and violence,” Ms Lambley said.

CENTRALIAN ADVOCATE digital subscription offer: Full digital access for just $1 a week for the first 12 weeks

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said in coming months government would look to “strengthening community work order programs, tougher bail and monitoring conditions, targeting ringleaders, and reinstating Family Responsibility Agreements”.

“The police in Alice are doing a tough job incredibly well. We’ve put more resources into tackling crime after the CLP’s cuts, and we’ve got three new police squads graduating in the coming months, with 45 more officers heading to Alice.

“I would love to see the council finally be part of the solution and do some work alongside us to tackle this problem … just like every other council in the Territory does.”