NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler announces police reinforcements for Palmerston

More general duties officers will hit the streets of Palmerston after it was confirmed graduates had been tasked to the station’s watch house. Find out what motivated one graduate to join the force.

Auxiliary officers Sophia Prentos and Zac Conelius speak to Police Minister Brent Potter and Chief Minister Eva Lawler.

Palmerston Police Station has been bolstered with much needed reinforcements after a new cohort of officers graduated this week.

On Friday, Chief Minister Eva Lawler and Police Minister Brent Potter announced four newly graduated auxiliary officers had been tasked to the station’s watch house, previously manned by general duties officers.

Ms Lawler said the relief would allow general duties to increase their street presence.

Ms Lawler said seven auxiliaries had been assigned to the Joint Emergency Services Call Centre in a bid to alleviate the backlog of emergency phone calls.

The extra numbers on call centre duty comes after it was revealed in April that JESCC operators were receiving twice the number of calls for police than it did in 2015 – an issue Ms Lawler said would be resolved through the government’s $570 million increase to the 2024 police budget.

Sophia Prentos was awarded 'Most Dedicated Recruit Award' by Police Minister Brent Potter. Picture: Supplied.

Among the new auxiliaries tasked to Palmerston watch house was graduate Zac Conelius, who said he was inspired by his father to explore a career in law enforcement.

“I’ve had experiences out in communities before, my dad’s a police officer as well and he was a big influence for me – I always looked up to him,” he said.

Mr Conelius said he hoped to support Territorians as his father did.

“It’s always been a dream of mine, I want to eventually join the constable stream,” he said.

Palmerston Police Station has been bolstered with an additional four auxiliary officers who will man the watch house. Picture: Harry Brill.

Police Minister Brent Potter said the latest graduating class took the Territory’s certification numbers to 83 new officers to join the force so far in 2024.

“We see this in addition to the 200 announced police officers that we will deliver over the next four years, the 52 officers that we will deliver to the Territory Safety Division in Nightcliff and the 25 further call takers that we announced earlier this year.”