‘The Police Association has asked us to review it so we are looking at that’:Penalties for assaulting police under review, minister confirms

The Territory government is reviewing penalties for assaults on police following a request from the NT Police Association, Police Minister Nicole Manison says.

THE Territory government is reviewing penalties for assaults on police following a request from the NT Police Association, Police Minister Nicole Manison says.

The comments come after the NT News revealed attacks on cops had doubled in Palmerston in the past year and were more prevalent in Alice Springs than any other part of the NT.

On Tuesday, Ms Manison confirmed the government was actively following up on the NTPA’s request.

“The Police Association has asked us to review it so we are looking at that,” she said.

Ms Manison attributed the spike in police assaults to alcohol-fuelled violence arising from coronavirus restrictions and associated government supplement payments.

“With these latest numbers what it does clearly show is that alcohol related assaults also increase assaults on police,” she said.

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Ms Manison said while the government’s alcohol policies had seen a decrease in grog fuelled violence, much of that work had been undone by the global pandemic.

“In the last 12 months we have seen them go up again and that we see as being directly attributed to Covid-19 and some of the impacts there with more money flowing through and more alcohol related harm going through the community,” she said.

“This will flow on again to alcohol related assaults on police so I will say to anyone that does this, it is a disgraceful act, the police are there to serve and protect the community and keep you safe and you will face penalties in court for that.”

Ms Manison defended the government’s record on police recruitment, saying it had exceeded its target of bringing 120 new officers on board.

In response to the statistics, NTPA 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.”