Northern Territory police launch Operation Ludlow in Alice Springs, downplay another curfew
Police have downplayed – but not ruled out – another curfew in Alice Springs, as additional officers are dispatched to the troubled NT town as a result of rising crime and anti-social behaviour.
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Another curfew in Alice Springs has been downplayed – but not ruled out – by Northern Territory police, who say newly launched Operation Ludlow will see “high visibility” police patrols during “peak times” in Alice Springs.
The new operation begins Thursday, as opposed to its original mid-December start date, police southern watch commander James Gray-Spence told media in Alice Springs.
Two supervisors and an additional 14 constables would travel to Alice Springs for the operation, which would end once the school holidays were over in January, Mr Gray-Spence said.
“We’ll see at least two additional patrol groups of high visibility police officers from outside Southern Command walking the beat in Alice Springs,” he said.
The additional officers will be patrolling during “peak times in peak places”, such as the Alice Springs CBD, “between 11pm and the early morning hours”, Mr Gray-Spence said.
Additional police vehicles would move into Alice Springs as part of the operation, and Todd Mall would also see an increased police presence – with the police force providing “reassurance patrols” from “highly visible officers” during events on the mall, he said.
The launch of the operation comes after another brawl broke out in the Alice Springs CBD on Tuesday – which police said involved up to 25 people, armed with various weapons.
However, touching on if there could be another curfew for Alice Springs, Mr Gray-Spence downplayed the measure, but did not rule it out all together.
“We’ve been planning for Operation Ludlow for some time and we always recognise that commencing mid December, we were going to have to have extra police in Alice Springs doing that highly visible reassurance work,” he said.
“In the briefing with the Commissioner and the Assistant Commissioner (Thursday), they did ask the question about the consideration of local management here for public disorder declarations.
“And I said ‘not now’, and that was received well.
“But all options are on the table.
“What we’re hoping with Operation Ludlow, focusing on that prevention piece, the protection piece and the enforcement, if we’ve got the extra police in town, then we may prevent having to use such tools as the public disorder declaration.”
In media release after Mr Gray-Spence’s announcement, Northern Territory police said the force has had an “exceptionally busy 48 hours” in Alice Springs with a series of serious incidents, including large disturbances, aggravated robberies, home invasions, and a deliberate attempt to ram a police vehicle on Tuesday night.
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said the launch of the operation was a “direct response to the current challenges we are facing in Alice Springs”.
“We are fully committed to maintaining safety and stability across the Territory,” he said.
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