LETTER
The Northern Territory has experienced a dramatic drop in assaults over the four months that tough new alcohol policies have been in effect.
Territory-wide there has been a 16% reduction in assaults in the four months to April 2014 compared to the same period last year.
The latest crime statistics reveal there also been a 16 per cent drop in alcohol-related assaults across the Territory over the same period when both Alcohol Protection Orders and intensive Temporary Beat Locations were in full effect.
While it’s still early days, the sustained downward trend we are starting to see is extremely encouraging and means that people are now safer on our streets than this time last year.
We are turning off the tap for violent individuals with our new suite of measures to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence.
Police are stationing officers outside of bottleshops and cutting off the supply of alcohol to individuals who are likely to consume it in restricted areas.
Additionally, there are now almost 1500 people on Alcohol Protection Orders, banning a person from buying, consuming or possessing grog or attending licenced premises.
Positive results are also being seen in towns across the Territory with assaults down by 44% in Tennant Creek, 25% in Alice Springs, and 9% in Katherine during the four months to April 2014, compared with the same period in 2013.
The results also show that there has been a decline in domestic violence-related assaults, with 18% fewer offences recorded from January to April of 2014 compared to the same four months in 2013.
Sixty per cent of assaults traditionally involve grog and our hardline approach to tackling alcohol-fuelled violence is also starting to have early success in driving down domestic violence.
Since coming to Government, the Country Liberals have applied a zero-tolerance, pro-arrest and pro-prosecution approach to domestic violence which is starting to see a deterrent effect.
Instead of solely putting people onto Domestic Violence Orders, we are committed to putting the full force of the law behind every case. In 2013 there were almost twice as many domestic violence assaults cleared by arrest, summons or warrant as there were in 2011.
The Northern Territory Government’s domestic and family violence reduction strategy is expected to be ready for implementation in coming months and will focus on protecting and supporting victims, encouraging reporting, as well as holding perpetrators to account for their actions.
Property crime continue to trend down across the Territory, with a 12% fall in total property offences and a 16% decline in commercial break-ins in the 12 months to April 2014.
In particular, house break-ins are down 26% Territory-wide. Specifically they are down 33% in Tennant Creek, 39% in Alice Springs, 23% in Darwin, 27% in Palmerston and 5% in Katherine.
The Country Liberals Government is using targeted Police operations to catch recidivist property offenders and drive crime down in our community.
CHIEF MINISTER ADAM GILES
ATTORNEY-GENERAL JOHN ELFERINK
Saturday, April 20, 2024
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