Family dysfunction key to rising crime rates in Central Australia, say police
/ By Stewart Brash and Emma HaskinSenior police say family dysfunction is a key factor in rising crime rates in Central Australia, as communities brace for a traditionally high crime period over Christmas and New Year.
Key points:
- Domestic violence assaults rose by 16 per cent and property crime by 60 per cent in Alice Springs, from August 2020 to August 2021
- Tennant Creek recorded a 37 per cent increase in alcohol-related assaults over the same period
- A NT police operation will run from November to the end of February to help combat a predicted spike in property and alcohol-related crimes
Already the statistics are painting a grim picture, despite the presence of Strikeforce Viper, a specialist team of 19 officers targeting property crime.
The latest crime statistics, from August 2020 to August this year, show property crime in Alice Springs has risen by 60 per cent, and by 54 per cent in Tennant Creek.
In Alice Springs, domestic-violence-related assault is up 16 per cent and motor vehicle theft has risen by 22 per cent.
Superintendent Tony Deutrom said that without Strikeforce Viper in place, the crime rates would be "horrific".
He said there were a number of contributing factors to the growing crime rates.
"If we're talking about property crime, the reality is that the large portion of persons that are partaking in this behaviour come from areas where family dysfunction, alcohol, offences against a person are prevalent in their communities and their households," he said.
"This dysfunction, results in broader impact on the community."
COVID-related restrictions could also be a factor in why some crimes had become more prevalent over the past year.
"We saw some significant decreases in some areas [but] that was always going to be a temporary hold," Superintendent Deutrom said.
He said COVID-related welfare payments were ending up in the "wrong space" and adding to the dysfunction.
"That space is down pokie machines, into alcohol, into community-based gambling," he said.
"That money is not getting injected back into the families to resolve some of this dysfunction."
Superintendent Deutrom said he did not want to excuse any criminal behaviour, but did want the community to understand the systemic nature of the dysfunction that affected some families.
"The reality [for] these children [is that] they're lucky if they have their own bed, they wouldn't have their own bedroom," he said.
"The fridges — if they exist in their households — are not filled with food."
He said that the Northern Territory police force was often held to account for the crime rates across the region.
"The reality is our prisons are full. Our youth detention centres are full. Our health system is clogged up with alcohol-related and harm issues," he said.
"Our public housing system is jammed up. There's a great need for accommodation and police are responsible and have the purview to maintain law and order.
"The reality is when you put all of those factors together, police only are responsible for a small purview, but we are the ones that constantly turn up and account for the crime."
Banned Drinkers' Register loophole
The Banned Drinkers' Register, established in September 2017, requires customers wanting to buy takeaway alcohol to show photo identification, and stops sales to those who have court orders banning them from buying alcohol.
The aim is to help reduce alcohol-related dysfunction in the community.
Tennant Creek has the toughest alcohol restrictions in the Northern Territory, yet it has recorded a 37 per cent increase in alcohol-related assaults, according to the latest figures.
Alice Springs recorded a slight drop — just 0.45 per cent — in alcohol-related assaults.
"We want it to be considerably lower," Superintendent Deutrom said.
"The reality is that there's strong restrictions in place for takeaway, but those same restrictions don't apply for on-premises [purchases].
"We need to have a stronger and more informed discussion around, 'Is it appropriate that a person [on the BDR] can … be refused a takeaway sale, but walk around into the licensed premises and consume alcohol?'."
Superintendent Deutrom said that it was not a call for licensees of bars, clubs or restaurants to be required to ask customers to provide identification every time they purchased alcohol.
"I'm not going to take a particular position on that to say one way or the other," he said.
New operation targets property, alcohol crime
A new police strategy, Operation Saturitas, will be launched next month and continue through to the end of February to help combat a predicted spike in property crime and alcohol-related crime.
"We're going to have an intelligence lead-based approach to target individuals and locations of interest that have popped up over a 24-hour and seven-hour proceeding period," Superintendent Deutrom said.
"With that, we'll have officers assigned to make sure that we have an enhanced police presence looking at those areas."
Officers assigned to Operation Saturitas will work in conjunction with Strikeforce Viper, traffic police and community youth engagement teams.
"We're inviting a number of external stakeholders to participate in that operation as well," Superintendent Deutrom said.
He said that the police were committed to change.
"We want to have a look at victims of crime, we want to go back and check on victims that have received domestic violence orders," he said.
"We'll be walking through licensed premises, we'll be doing compliance checks.
"There will be overlaying traffic enforcement and … we'll be having enhanced, high-visibility foot patrols."