NT Police contradicts Chalker on Alice Springs police resourcing after budget estimates claim
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker has been contradicted by NT Police after claiming during budget estimates that Alice Springs had been without a dedicated property crime unit for some time.
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POLICE Commissioner Jamie Chalker has been contradicted by NT Police after claiming during budget estimates that Alice Springs had been without a dedicated property crime unit for some time.
Mr Chalker, giving evidence during day two of budget estimates, said there had previously been dedicated property teams in an “investigative capacity” in Alice Springs but for “whatever reason” that had not continued.
He couldn’t say why those property investigation teams no longer existed in the Red Centre as that had happened when he was working outside the agency.
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Mr Chalker joined NT Police in 1994, and in the last 26 years the only time he has worked outside of the agency was between 2016 and October 2019 when he served as the chief executive of the NT Housing Department.
But NT Police, in a statement, told the NT News that Alice Springs has always had a designated property crime team in place even as Strike Forces come and go.
NT Police confirmed “Strike Force Winx”, which was also focused on property crime, had ended 20 months ago in April 2019.
It comes as Strike Force Viper, the police operation in Alice Springs that targets property offending including car thefts, is set to become permanent in the Red Centre.
There has been a “surge” in property crime in Alice Springs since the NT’s internal biosecurity zone coronavirus restrictions, which prevented people from travelling in to a number of communities, ended.
Strike Force Viper, the police operation in Alice Springs that targets property offending including car thefts, will become permanent in the Red Centre.
A total of 242 charges have been levelled on 111 offenders between October 14 and December 6 by Strike Force Viper. Of the 242 charges 40 per cent, or 115, were for youths.
Cost of police planes to taxpayer
QUESTIONS raised around use of NT Police Air Wing by Territory politicians, as budget estimates reveals planes costing nearly $5m a year.
NT Police Air Wing, which consists of one government-owned plane and three that are leased under an arrangement with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, is used to respond to “emerging issues”, transport prisoners and fly police officers to some of the most remote areas of the territory.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has used budget estimates to get the government to reveal how many times the Chief Minister and his wife, ABC journalist Kristy O’Brien, had travelled on the plane in 2019/20 if at all.
Police Minister Nicole Minister confirmed this afternoon that Mr Gunner made three trips on NT Police Air Wing, one on March 27, one on November 12 from Darwin to Yuendumu and back and one on May 20 to visit border checkpoints.
Ms O’Brien has made no trips on the NT Police Air Wing.
She has also asked, in questions on notice, how many times the NT Police Air Wing flew to Yuendumu in the month after the death of Kumanjayi Walker and the ranks and titles of the people on the plane.
Answers are due by late January.
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker revealed the government-owned plane cost an average of $1164 an hour to use while the leased planes cost $2200 an hour.
The total cost of NT Police Air Wing in 2019/20, including pilots and administration staff, was $4.86m.
Police academy is “chockers”
A TOTAL of 124 aspiring police officers have signed up to the NT Police Academy in the last six months, with a bulk of them scheduled to graduate in March and April.
Recruitment has surged in 2020/21 police commissioner Jamie Chalker revealed during budget estimates.
This year’s cohort has already surpassed NT Police’s intake of 97 recruits in 2019/20.
A total of 73 sworn officers left NT Police in 2019/20.
Coronavirus impact on NT police
AT the peak of pandemic an average of 10 per cent of the Northern Territory’s police force were positioned at border checkpoints.
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said this equated to about 150 police officers and the strain on resources has since decreased.
He also confirmed that NT Police were stationed at both the domestic wing of Howard Springs quarantine facility and the international wing. It is unknown of there is a crossover of police between the two sides.
Assaults on police
POLICE have been assaulted 88 times in the last six months, with the government reviewing the level of punishment offenders face.
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said cop assaults were mainly offenders “striking out” with fists, “kicking out” or grabbing “improvised weapons”.
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He said the most disturbing type of police assault was spitting.
“That’s just completely and utterly unacceptable and is an act that we consider to be quite reprehensible,” Mr Chalker said.
Police Minister Nicole Minister said the government was “reviewing penalties in that space”.
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