By KIERAN FINNANE
‘Serious assault causing injury’ is the standout crime in the Police Southern Command, according to the picture painted by Police Annual Report for 2011-12, tabled in the NT parliament yesterday. Police stats show a 246.7% increase in that category, compared to 12.3% in the Darwin Metropolitan Command and 131.4% in the Northern Command.
The raw numbers for the Southern Command are 137 in 2010-11 jumping to 475 in 2011-12. That puts Southern Command in 2011-12 way ahead of Darwin Metropolitan with 229 such offences, and Northern Command with 162. (Unlike the quarterly Department of Justice crime statistics, there are no breakdowns for the major urban centres of the Southern and Northern Commands.)
In offences against property the Southern Command is not far below Darwin Metropolitan. The totals for Darwin in the ‘Unlawful entry with intent/burglary, break and enter” were 1,664 for 2010-11 and 1,853 for 2011-12, up 11.4% For the Southern Command in the same category the totals were 1,448 and 1,313, down 9.3%. In the Southern Command the building and dwelling sub-sets of these figures were roughly even, while in Darwin there were significantly more unlawful entries into buildings.
On a much commented upon topic, the timeliness of police response, the report offers these NT-wide statistics:
• the proportion of 000 calls answered within 10 seconds in 2011-12 was 82%, compared to 87% in 2010-11 and the national average of 74.5%.
• the proportion of general calls answered within 20 seconds was 68% in 2011-12, compared to 74% in 2010-11.
• the proportion of “priority one” incidents where police were dispatched within 10 minutes was 64.% in 2011-12, with no comparisons available.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
The article,”The NT’s violent southern half” by Kieran Finnane posted 31/10/12 deserves some comment.
Newly elected attorney-general John Elferink promised NT voters a 10% reduction in crime but he refused to offer a deadline. With these stats I suppose one can’t blame him but the buck has to stop somewhere John … you can’t fall back on the old Territory time excuse forever and a day.
Alice Springs News reports a 246.7% increase in serious assaults causing injury for 2011-12. Local authorities must warn all those who come to your town to work and play not to take unnecessary risk. The alleged assault on 12/11/12 at 2am on Bloomfield St. is a perfect example of what not to do. Sad but true.
On the government report on police responses, you, with respect, have nothing of comfort or substance to say purely because the NT government are not providing you with a true picture of responses to serious situations in the southern half. I know, this has been the case for too many years.
David Chewings aka THE lone dingo