Assaults on police double in Palmo but it’s still not the most dangerous place to be a Territory cop

Figures obtained by the NT News show there were 36 assaults against police recorded in Palmerston in the year to February, in increase in the previous 12 months.

• ‘It’s traumatic for staff involved’: Assaults on cops up by almost 20 per cent throughout Territory

ASSAULTS against police have more than doubled in Palmerston in the past year while Alice Springs remains the most dangerous place to be a Territory cop, new figures reveal.

The figures obtained by the NT News show there were 36 assaults against police recorded in Palmerston in the year to February, up from 17 in the previous 12 months.

The jump saw the satellite city leapfrog Darwin where there were just 33 assaults in the year to February, down from 40 during the same time last year.

But Alice Springs eclipsed all other regions, including the Territory capital, recording 42 assaults in the past 12 months, up from 38 the year before.

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Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspector Kahlil Currie is one face behind the statistics, after falling victim to a drunken assault outside the Gap View Hotel in February.

Court documents reveal PALI Currie and his partner Emma Eruera had responded to a drunk man assaulting his partner outside the bottle-o, who then tried to run away, at about 7pm.

PALI Currie gave chase and the man resisted arrest, biting the officer on the forearm and forcing him to deploy his capsicum spray to bring him under control.

In a victim impact statement tendered to the court, PALI Currie said the incident was the first time he’d been attacked while on duty and it had affected the way he did his job.

“I have learned from the incident but I feel the way I interact with members of the public has changed and it will take me time to readjust,” he said.

NT Police Association president Paul McCue said the overall increase in assaults on cops was a “major concern” and “reflective of the dangerous conditions our members work in each and every day”.

“We have relayed our concern to the minster on this issue on multiple occasions, including the lack of deterrent in the sentencing provisions for those who are convicted of cowardly attacking our members,” he said.

“We are still waiting on the outcome of our submission into this important issue.”

Police Minister Nicole Manison said any assault on a police officer was “disgraceful” and offenders would always be dealt with “by the full scope of the law”.

“We are recruiting well above attrition and have a record police budget, with a record number of police on the beat,” she said.

“We will always back our hardworking police and the amazing job that they do.”

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