May 18, 2026 • 10 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We know that Palmerston are set to see an increase
(00:02):
police presence, with the Northern Territory Police announcing well that
they've launched Operation Ventura in response to rising assaults and
property offenses across the city. The operation aims to act
as a circuit breaker, combining high visibility policing, targeted enforcement
and support from a range of agencies to tackle crime
and anti social behavior. The police say that they're going
(00:24):
to focus on those hotspot areas compliance breaches and connecting
vulnerable people with support services. Now joining me in the
studio this morning, we have got the Northern Territory Police
Superintendent for Palmerston, Katie Hatzemalis, Good morning to u.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Kat Good morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
And we have also got the command of the Acting
Commander for the Greater Darwin Region, Kirsten Engeles. Good morning
to you, Kirston.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Good morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Lovely to have you both in the studio. Now, what
trends are you seeing on the ground in Palmerston at
the moment and what are police believe sort of driving
the increase in assaults and property offenses that we saw
with those crime stats.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Well, as you have pointed out, we do have some
stats that are not going in the right direction for us,
and we've put Operation Venturer into absolutely focus on those
hot spot areas. We are seeing areas such as robberies,
violence against people, and domestic violences, are related to saults,
(01:22):
those that have alcohol involved. They're all ones that are
worrying for us, and that is why we've stood up
Operation Venturer to target not only those offenses. But you know,
you pointed out, we're looking at people that have got
compliance requirements due to their court orders, their domestic violence orders,
their bail conditions, and of course they're already involved in
(01:45):
the system, so we know that they're people that we
want to keep a close eye on. So we'll definitely
be looking at those compliance things as we meet with people.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Excuse my ignorance, but are those compliance issues? So is
that somebody that might be on bail or that have,
like you touched on their court order or something.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Exactly right, somebody who's on a bail condition, somebody who's
subject to a domestic violence order or a parole order,
recently released from prison. All of those things mean somebody's
in the system already, so of course we want to
take a closer eye and making sure that they're adhering
to those conditions.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now kicked off yesterday. How's the first twenty four hours gone?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, Katie, thank you. The first twenty four hours has
gone really well. We had some really high visibility patrols
out yesterday targeting those hot spot areas we had wanding operations.
We had some joint patrols with other partner agencies some
of the statistics that we saw. We had our Fugitive
Task Force out in Palmerston yesterday and they got four arrests,
(02:48):
two for breach of suspended sentences, one for breach of
parole and one for a serious harm. So they were
some really good arrests to get most people off the street.
Our social or team spoke to and moved on about
seventy five people. They tipped out, sixty nine leaders of alcohol.
We had an additional six people added to the band
(03:10):
drinking or had band drinking orders, licensed premises checks. We
had some people taken into protective custody in relation to
the wanding authority. We had fifty five people wandered and
seized a hammer.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Geez, I don't know why it really need to be
getting around with the hammer if you're not a tradee.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well it wasn't a builder, so yeah, yeah, so yeah, no,
that went really well yesterday. And you know, we have
hard working police officers on the ground twenty four to
seven in Palmiston all the time anyway, so this is
just in addition to that. And yeah, we expect this
to go go forward during the week and we've got
some more resources that we'll expect to see out thought.
(03:50):
They're through Mounted Police Strikeforce LYRA, we have traffic operations
out there, and we've got patrol dogs. You're on a
drone capability availability as well.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
So is that something we've always had, that drone capability?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Look, we always hear about different areas in Palmerston that
are bits of hotspots, I guess you might say, or
certainly areas that people contact us about. One in particular
is sort of that yarrawonga around the Gateway area. That's
an area that people quite often contact us with concerns about.
But then one of the others is the shops the
I think it's either the Gray or the Driver shops Gray. Yep,
(04:29):
the Gray Shops. There's always a few issues around there.
And then we also even this morning, I got really
quite an extensive email from a parent who you know,
they've got kids that are at one of the schools
there on Emery Avenue where they're having some really serious
issues with not only anti social behavior, but I would say,
you know, like criminal and domestic violence that that young
(04:51):
children are then witnessing. So I guess if you can
talk me through those hot spot areas and some of
the work that the police are doing with those.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Yeah, look, you did point out couple of our very
well known areas. We would add to that, the Palmerston
Bus Exchange, the Goiter Precinct, the.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Palmerston shops including the library.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
We've got, as you say, the Gray Shops, We've got
the Molden Shops.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
We know where our hotspots are, and of course.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
We are very invested in making sure that our community
is safe for everyone, and most certainly for the children.
They shouldn't have to put up with that sort of behavior.
And that's why we do encourage people if they are,
you know, witnessing domestic violence or other behavior that is unacceptable,
do call us, because this is how we get our
hot spot areas through hearing from people.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, well, even looking at this, you know it sort
of seems like in this email that this parent sent
to me, it does sound like it's a housing issue
as well. You know, I like that as in public
housing managed by another operator. They've made more than five
hundred complaints to that housing operator from what I can
see now, I know that you guys are not in
charge of housing, but how do you then with some
(06:00):
of those different, you know, different agencies. And I know
that that's part of this operation, working with those different
agencies to make sure that when you go out there
to some of those situations that are unfolding, that there's
you know, some follow up I guess from those other
agencies as well.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Well, that's it. It's a multi agency approach.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's actually a whole a community approach, from people calling
us and telling us what's going on, through to the response,
which is often police led. But then what's really important
after that is that we have the engagement and referrals
to the appropriate agencies and that we do work in
place in Territory Safety Division on a daily basis, and
for Adventura even more so, hand in hand with people
(06:40):
like the housing officers, and we work really well together
and we can achieve together something more special I guess
than we can work in independently. But as for what
carries on after that, I'd love to, you know, to
be able to be talked through with you. You know,
we will talk together about what actually happens after because
there's some amazing work by those other agents is that
they do that take our referrals, that take the information
(07:03):
that we give them and then work them through to
address some of those vulnerabilities that often lead to that
offending and behavior that the community is calling us about.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, well that's I suppose the you know, you guys
are there. It's probably the wrong words, but you're there,
like right at the cliff face. You know, you're right
there when the when the situation is already unfolded. But
there needs to be that other work as well. That's
not the police that does either support people if they
need that support or you know the reality of it
is for you know, in some of these situations, move
(07:32):
people to another location if it's not appropriate. And I know,
again that's not a discussion that the Northern Territory Police
need to be having with me, but it's one that
I'll follow up on. I want to ask, so you know,
residents often hear about increased patrols, police operations. What are
people going to notice really over the period of time.
Does it go for two months.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, that's right where we started yesterday. We'll go for
a period of two months into mid July.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
And look, I'm gonna say that, you know, every little
operation we do, whether it be two days, two months,
they all have a place and they all have a
job to do in the bigger picture. There's no one
thing that's going to fix anything. And I know that
through years of policing. What's also notoriously hard to measure
is proactive engagement.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Proactive policing.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
You never know when that one timely arrest, whether that conversation,
whether moving people on from a corner of a shop,
you don't know what that's done for a person in
that group, or a family member or a workplace. So
I think every everything we do has a little piece
to play in the bigger overall picture. What you'll see
for Operation Venturer is very highly visible police and partner
(08:40):
agencies working together. The statistics we've got in one day
are really indicative of what we're going to keep. We're
going to keep that tempo up for the whole two months.
We don't think that the whole world is going to
change in two months, but we certainly think that we
can make a difference, you know, in the community safety.
Success for us is lower incidents of offending in those
hotspots as an increase in community safety around those places.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, less victims, Hey, less victims.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
That's what everybody wants to see. I mean, Katie, it
sounds like it's going to be a pretty busy time
for you guys out in Palmerston, but it sounds like
it probably always is.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yes, it is going to be a busy time, but
we welcome it, and we welcome the operation and our
partners and working together to make Palmeston a safer community.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And what's the final message for you know, for residents
this morning, or for everybody really, you know, not everybody
lives out in Palmerston, but lots of us go out
there to work, to shop, all that sort of thing.
What's the message for locals?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
The message is that you will see, as we are listening,
we are taking action. We will be very strong and
enforcement of behaviors that we come across or that are
reported to us. But we're also interested in driving that
engagement and referral.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, thank you both very much for your time this morning.
Really appreciate you coming into the studio and well joining
us and answering those questions. Of course, not the territory
Police Superintendent for Palmerston Katie had some alis and acting
for the Greater Darwin Region Kirsten Engels.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Thank you both so much for your time, thanks for
having us.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Thank you
We know that Palmerston are set to see an increase
(00:02):
police presence, with the Northern Territory Police announcing well that
they've launched Operation Ventura in response to rising assaults and
property offenses across the city. The operation aims to act
as a circuit breaker, combining high visibility policing, targeted enforcement
and support from a range of agencies to tackle crime
and anti social behavior. The police say that they're going
(00:24):
to focus on those hotspot areas compliance breaches and connecting
vulnerable people with support services. Now joining me in the
studio this morning, we have got the Northern Territory Police
Superintendent for Palmerston, Katie Hatzemalis, Good morning to u.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Kat Good morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
And we have also got the command of the Acting
Commander for the Greater Darwin Region, Kirsten Engeles. Good morning
to you, Kirston.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Good morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Lovely to have you both in the studio. Now, what
trends are you seeing on the ground in Palmerston at
the moment and what are police believe sort of driving
the increase in assaults and property offenses that we saw
with those crime stats.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Well, as you have pointed out, we do have some
stats that are not going in the right direction for us,
and we've put Operation Venturer into absolutely focus on those
hot spot areas. We are seeing areas such as robberies,
violence against people, and domestic violences, are related to saults,
(01:22):
those that have alcohol involved. They're all ones that are
worrying for us, and that is why we've stood up
Operation Venturer to target not only those offenses. But you know,
you pointed out, we're looking at people that have got
compliance requirements due to their court orders, their domestic violence orders,
their bail conditions, and of course they're already involved in
(01:45):
the system, so we know that they're people that we
want to keep a close eye on. So we'll definitely
be looking at those compliance things as we meet with people.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Excuse my ignorance, but are those compliance issues? So is
that somebody that might be on bail or that have,
like you touched on their court order or something.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Exactly right, somebody who's on a bail condition, somebody who's
subject to a domestic violence order or a parole order,
recently released from prison. All of those things mean somebody's
in the system already, so of course we want to
take a closer eye and making sure that they're adhering
to those conditions.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now kicked off yesterday. How's the first twenty four hours gone?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, Katie, thank you. The first twenty four hours has
gone really well. We had some really high visibility patrols
out yesterday targeting those hot spot areas we had wanding operations.
We had some joint patrols with other partner agencies some
of the statistics that we saw. We had our Fugitive
Task Force out in Palmerston yesterday and they got four arrests,
(02:48):
two for breach of suspended sentences, one for breach of
parole and one for a serious harm. So they were
some really good arrests to get most people off the street.
Our social or team spoke to and moved on about
seventy five people. They tipped out, sixty nine leaders of alcohol.
We had an additional six people added to the band
(03:10):
drinking or had band drinking orders, licensed premises checks. We
had some people taken into protective custody in relation to
the wanding authority. We had fifty five people wandered and
seized a hammer.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Geez, I don't know why it really need to be
getting around with the hammer if you're not a tradee.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well it wasn't a builder, so yeah, yeah, so yeah, no,
that went really well yesterday. And you know, we have
hard working police officers on the ground twenty four to
seven in Palmiston all the time anyway, so this is
just in addition to that. And yeah, we expect this
to go go forward during the week and we've got
some more resources that we'll expect to see out thought.
(03:50):
They're through Mounted Police Strikeforce LYRA, we have traffic operations
out there, and we've got patrol dogs. You're on a
drone capability availability as well.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
So is that something we've always had, that drone capability?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Look, we always hear about different areas in Palmerston that
are bits of hotspots, I guess you might say, or
certainly areas that people contact us about. One in particular
is sort of that yarrawonga around the Gateway area. That's
an area that people quite often contact us with concerns about.
But then one of the others is the shops the
I think it's either the Gray or the Driver shops Gray. Yep,
(04:29):
the Gray Shops. There's always a few issues around there.
And then we also even this morning, I got really
quite an extensive email from a parent who you know,
they've got kids that are at one of the schools
there on Emery Avenue where they're having some really serious
issues with not only anti social behavior, but I would say,
you know, like criminal and domestic violence that that young
(04:51):
children are then witnessing. So I guess if you can
talk me through those hot spot areas and some of
the work that the police are doing with those.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Yeah, look, you did point out couple of our very
well known areas. We would add to that, the Palmerston
Bus Exchange, the Goiter Precinct, the.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Palmerston shops including the library.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
We've got, as you say, the Gray Shops, We've got
the Molden Shops.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
We know where our hotspots are, and of course.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
We are very invested in making sure that our community
is safe for everyone, and most certainly for the children.
They shouldn't have to put up with that sort of behavior.
And that's why we do encourage people if they are,
you know, witnessing domestic violence or other behavior that is unacceptable,
do call us, because this is how we get our
hot spot areas through hearing from people.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, well, even looking at this, you know it sort
of seems like in this email that this parent sent
to me, it does sound like it's a housing issue
as well. You know, I like that as in public
housing managed by another operator. They've made more than five
hundred complaints to that housing operator from what I can
see now, I know that you guys are not in
charge of housing, but how do you then with some
(06:00):
of those different, you know, different agencies. And I know
that that's part of this operation, working with those different
agencies to make sure that when you go out there
to some of those situations that are unfolding, that there's
you know, some follow up I guess from those other
agencies as well.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Well, that's it. It's a multi agency approach.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's actually a whole a community approach, from people calling
us and telling us what's going on, through to the response,
which is often police led. But then what's really important
after that is that we have the engagement and referrals
to the appropriate agencies and that we do work in
place in Territory Safety Division on a daily basis, and
for Adventura even more so, hand in hand with people
(06:40):
like the housing officers, and we work really well together
and we can achieve together something more special I guess
than we can work in independently. But as for what
carries on after that, I'd love to, you know, to
be able to be talked through with you. You know,
we will talk together about what actually happens after because
there's some amazing work by those other agents is that
they do that take our referrals, that take the information
(07:03):
that we give them and then work them through to
address some of those vulnerabilities that often lead to that
offending and behavior that the community is calling us about.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, well that's I suppose the you know, you guys
are there. It's probably the wrong words, but you're there,
like right at the cliff face. You know, you're right
there when the when the situation is already unfolded. But
there needs to be that other work as well. That's
not the police that does either support people if they
need that support or you know the reality of it
is for you know, in some of these situations, move
(07:32):
people to another location if it's not appropriate. And I know,
again that's not a discussion that the Northern Territory Police
need to be having with me, but it's one that
I'll follow up on. I want to ask, so you know,
residents often hear about increased patrols, police operations. What are
people going to notice really over the period of time.
Does it go for two months.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, that's right where we started yesterday. We'll go for
a period of two months into mid July.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
And look, I'm gonna say that, you know, every little
operation we do, whether it be two days, two months,
they all have a place and they all have a
job to do in the bigger picture. There's no one
thing that's going to fix anything. And I know that
through years of policing. What's also notoriously hard to measure
is proactive engagement.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Proactive policing.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
You never know when that one timely arrest, whether that conversation,
whether moving people on from a corner of a shop,
you don't know what that's done for a person in
that group, or a family member or a workplace. So
I think every everything we do has a little piece
to play in the bigger overall picture. What you'll see
for Operation Venturer is very highly visible police and partner
(08:40):
agencies working together. The statistics we've got in one day
are really indicative of what we're going to keep. We're
going to keep that tempo up for the whole two months.
We don't think that the whole world is going to
change in two months, but we certainly think that we
can make a difference, you know, in the community safety.
Success for us is lower incidents of offending in those
hotspots as an increase in community safety around those places.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, less victims, Hey, less victims.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
That's what everybody wants to see. I mean, Katie, it
sounds like it's going to be a pretty busy time
for you guys out in Palmerston, but it sounds like
it probably always is.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yes, it is going to be a busy time, but
we welcome it, and we welcome the operation and our
partners and working together to make Palmeston a safer community.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And what's the final message for you know, for residents
this morning, or for everybody really, you know, not everybody
lives out in Palmerston, but lots of us go out
there to work, to shop, all that sort of thing.
What's the message for locals?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
The message is that you will see, as we are listening,
we are taking action. We will be very strong and
enforcement of behaviors that we come across or that are
reported to us. But we're also interested in driving that
engagement and referral.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, thank you both very much for your time this morning.
Really appreciate you coming into the studio and well joining
us and answering those questions. Of course, not the territory
Police Superintendent for Palmerston Katie had some alis and acting
for the Greater Darwin Region Kirsten Engels.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Thank you both so much for your time, thanks for
having us.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Thank you
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