Crime plummets in Alice Springs after one month of alcohol restrictions

Break ins and domestic violence are among crimes which have dropped in Alice Springs a month since alcohol restrictions were reintroduced to the Northern Territory town. See the figures here.

Break-ins have almost halved and domestic violence in Alice Springs has dropped by a third in the one month since alcohol restrictions were reintroduced into the Northern Territory town.

There has been a dramatic decline in criminal activity in Alice Springs since January when the sale of takeaway alcohol was heavily restricted by the Northern Territory Government following a national outcry and pressure from the Albanese Government to replace lapsed laws.

It can exclusively be revealed “youth disturbances” declined by 36.36 per cent in February compared to January this year, according to internal NT Police data seen by News Corp.

There 235 unlawful entries across Alice Springs between January 2 and 30 this year, which dropped 45.96 per cent to 127 incidents in the following month to February 27.

Alcohol as a factor in domestic violence was down 27.7 per cent over the month.

Crime has plummeted in Alice Springs since strict new alcohol rules were introduced.

In the first week of January when crime was at crisis levels alcohol was deemed a factor in 76 per cent of the 167 domestic violence incidents.

By the week of 20 February, alcohol had decreased to being a factor in 47 per cent of the 92 domestic violence incidents.

New restrictions on the sale of alcohol came into effect at the end of January following the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s flying visit to the town.

Takeaway alcohol-free days were introduced on Mondays and Tuesdays, bottle shops were restricted to 3pm to 7pm on other days and a limit of one transaction per person per day was implemented.

Prior to the limits there had been a spike in home invasions, robberies, domestic violence and assaults, which many people in Alice Springs attributed to the expiration of a so-called “grog ban” in July last year, which had first been introduced back in 2007.

In response to the crisis, NT Police launched Operation Drina to prevent crime through “highly proactive enforcement” and target high-risk offending with “specialist directed action”.

It comes after PM Anthony Albanese made an urgent trip to the NT town in February in an attempt to address the crisis.

To date the Operation has resulted in 405 arrests, 647 infringements, 76 banning notices, 1968 litres of alcohol destroyed and 752 protective custody episodes.

Police also increased engagement with business owner’s day and evening through patrols and general duties, as well as increased their media and social media ton highlight their presence in Alice Springs.

According to the internal report summarising the Operation, police also supported councils and the territory government with return to country work.

NT Police reported concern “still exists” in Alice Springs with regard to the availability of takeaway alcohol on Saturdays.

Police remained concerned about the availability of takeaway alcohol on Saturdays .Picture: Mark Brake

“This day of the week by its nature sees increased consumption of alcohol by community members and as such is somewhat in contradiction to the intended or wanted outcomes and the hours of Wednesday to Friday,” the NT Police report signed off by Deputy Commissioner Michael Murphy.

Police said they were also still concern around “volume control” around alcohol sales.

They recommended alcohol restrictions be modified to include reducing takeaway alcohol sales on Saturday and introducing volume control based on restriction in Tennant Creek.

NT Police also recommended exploring ways to check if people banned who are banned from drinking then continue to consume alcohol within licensed premises while takeaway sales are stopped.

The report also warned the police were expecting an “uptake in secondary supply” of alcohol, where people purchase products and then sell them to members of the community privately outside the restrictions.

Originally published as Crime plummets in Alice Springs after one month of alcohol restrictions