Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
The Northern Territory government earlier this week announced that more
than fifty police officers are going to be rostered on
Operation Drena throughout the summer period in Alice Springs. They're
going to be in a range of roles and at
different times throughout the season as that demand dictates. The
government says that Operation Drener is going to have a
particular focus on alcohol related defending, including assaults, unlawful entries
(00:22):
and domestic and family violence. So how can the police
manage to juggle well to have this many officers in
Alice Springs? Is it going to see more offices? I
mean we spoke to the Minister for Police about this.
But joining me on the show right now is the
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy. Good morning to you,
Good morning Kenny, thanks so much for your time this morning, Commissioner. Now,
(00:43):
fifty police, how is this being juggled when the Police
Association has been saying for quite some time that we're
facing staff shortages.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
So probably a couple of things. We're actually recruiting to
above attrician So we've got above FTA across the whole
Northern Churchary Police Force Operation DRAINA is a supplementary operation
to support frontline in Alice Springs. The planning around this
with the fifty additional is locally resourced. It's not drawing
(01:12):
on staff from other areas because as you understand, policing
across the Northern Territory has a high tempo at the moment.
There's many pressing issues and demands with rogue policing, domestic violence,
social order and property crime. So we've got to manage
that collectively and it is a priority. And what policing
operations do is focus on what's really important to the
(01:33):
community and right now the priority is public safety and
reassuring the members of the Alice Springs community and Central
Australia they are safe and it's about focusing the resources.
So we've got the patrol groups so when people and
we're doing a lot of work and can I say,
it's actually lots of opportunities and that's exciting. You know,
when people pick up the phone and want a police card,
(01:54):
they should be able to see a police car fairly quickly.
So there's a lot of work being done in the
joint Emencity Communication Center as well. The response patrols which
operate twenty four to seven hour springs. They get the
tasking out of the Joint Emergency Communications Center as well.
Then we've got a basically support crew, which is Operation
Drina that's operating twenty four to seven that supports that.
(02:14):
So at any one time you might have up to
six or seven police cars operating per shift across our springs.
And what we're trying to do is reduce the demand,
identify offending patterns, hotspots, what the issues are, and providing
some support to prevent crime and do the engagement even
through our aboriginal the agent officers with community identifying what
(02:35):
the patterns are to minimize and drive down and to
make sure we don't have the spike like we saw
last year.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And Commissioner, I mean, you make a really good point,
and that is one that people want to see police
when they call through. They want to make sure that
if there's a dangerous situation unfolding, that they're able to
actually get police officers out to the scene, whether it's
in Ala Springs or whether it's here in Darwin. Can
I just confirm though, that this operation isn't going to
the officers taken from other locations, So you're not actually
(03:03):
going to need to send them from Darwin or from
remote communities to Alice Springs to deal with their demand.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
What you will see is support from the mounted unit.
So you'll see the mounted unit in there. When you
see the bikes, they're local officers. You will see the
highway patrol and the traffic unit actually bolster in Ala
Springs as well. In early December, they'll roll out across
the territory as part of the festive season and our
road safety operations as well, so you will see traffic coming.
(03:30):
And obviously we do continuency planning so if for some
reason and police do get diverted for other operations or
emergency management or an investigation, if that's required, we've got
some planning in place for a three teet approach to
deploy additional resources anywhere across the territory should they be required.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
All right, So you're not actually going to be sending
fifty police officers from Darwin or anywhere else to Alice Springs,
but if there is a demand, you're going to get
those offices there as they need it, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And can I just note so that the enormous effort
from the officers in Alice Springs, Tenant Creek and Central Australia,
but the whole territory colickly because we're a team. But
you know that has been some leave management and the
threshold has been fairly tight, and there have been officers
who hadn't had their leave approved and I mean they've
made a sacrifice to work across the Christmas period and
(04:20):
the holiday period to keep territory and safe and I
just want to say thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So, Commissioner, is leave being canceled for some officers or
are they being told that this is not the time
to go away?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah? No, leaf hasn't been canceled, it's just not being approved.
So if there's late requests, we'd or a bit of
planning twelve months out. It's called gazetta leave and most
people allows them to plan trips overseas and the like.
But if you've got a late application, we've got thresholds
across different ranks and they'll probably just be disappointed when
it's not approved.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now, the same day that this announcement was being made,
there were distressing scenes in Alice Springs. So the man
allegedly smashing up windows of the CBD with an AX
like it was at four o'clock in the afternoon. We're
talking about an axe. It's a pretty violent thing to do.
Are you concerned at the level of, you know, a
violent behavior that you are seeing and the type of
(05:08):
weapons that you're seeing people use on the streets.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah. Over the last couple of years, and it's not
isolated in the Northern Territory. We're seen across Australia prevalence
of serious violence with weapons edged weapons. We've seen different
strategies put in place. Obviously, we've got the wanding. They
did some wanning operations now the springs yesterday were they
for a twelve hour period but no weapons were detected.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, yea.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So this this bloke obviously was carrying an axe around
like a full sized axe, and then you know, smashed
a car and then stole some items out of the
car and he was pretty quickly apprehended by us once
it was reported. And we had another incident last night
where a seventeen year old youth had a machete at
a service station. Apprehended fairly quickly. But it is concerning
(05:51):
when you see people who are armed. But we're doing
everything we can to obviously detect that and thank the
members of the public for calling as soon as they
see it so we can respond really quickly.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I mean, excuse my bluntness, but bloody hell, like you're
talking about a massive axe and then you're talking about
a kid with a machete, Like that's dangerous stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Absolutely, it is dangerous and it can do serious harm.
And you know that the role for us is to
make sure that we identify patterns of behavior and controlling
the wanting operations, the mere presence and just going back
to the additional police Whilst we talk about police response,
it's absolutely essential that police are out in a proactive role,
being seen and in places that are actually stopping offenses accrying.
(06:30):
So actually walking them all and going to talk to
shop owners and residents across Ola Springs makes an incredible difference,
and there's some really good feedback about seeing hops and
it's just that level of reassurance too that you're there,
you're on the spot, and you're actually deterring people from
making bad choices.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Is that something that you're sort of really trying to
push through as the new police commissioner, to make sure
that you know that the police are back out on
the streets doing that proactive policing because it did feel
as though it was something that we were lacking for
a few years there.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
It absolutely is a priority, the engagement being visible. I'm
talking to people, understanding what's going on and talking to
the you know, the coffee with the cop is just
a really simple step in the right direction to engage
with the community. And when it first kicked off, there
was a lot of frustration, and I understand people's frustration,
but what's really important is for us to listen to
the frustration and adjust our sales to make sure we
(07:21):
deliver a service to the community, because that's what you expect.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
One thing that people do seem very frustrated with is
kids behaving in a way that's unacceptable and not seeming
to be too worried about the consequence of their actions.
I mean, last week, and I know that the Northern
Territory Police did apprehend a number of these youths, but
last week we're in a situation where there was youths
allegedly throwing rocks and driving a stolen vehicle at the
(07:44):
Northern Territory Police.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Incredibly, it's just, you know, it's a whole range of
issues there about poor choices, you know what it looks like,
and that's where depending on their age. Obviously, if they're
above the age of twelve, they can face sanctions, whether
it's through dis version or go into the youth court.
But it's also the important work of Territory Families to
make sure they monitor the youth or what the issues
(08:08):
are is that you know, trauma, is that learning, is
a family issues at home and in guarantee all those boxes.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Atticked, Commissioner, do we have a situation though as well?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I mean you've got the police out on the beach
at twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
You know you're apprehending in some cases these young people.
But then if they are under the age of criminal responsibility, realistically,
you know you'd want Territory families to be able to
be there and to be able to help the police
so that your officers then aren't sort of being tied
up or their time is not being taken up for
(08:40):
an extended period with these young people.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Absolutely, and there's some conversations occurring right now and the
minister's very interested in as well and talking to the
Minister of the Territory Families about how they can assist
more in the field at a time where it's just
not taking police resource and time.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Now at Tenant Creek, there are some concerns about the
crime levels Tenant Creek and concerns as well that sometimes
they are the forgotten cousin. Is there additional work happening
in Tenant Creek around crime?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, Well, they've got the Investigation's crew there and they've
actually got a really good team there. They've got a
lot of good numbers and they're doing incredibly important work
and they're definitely not forgotten. I'll be in Tennant Creek
in the second week of January. I'll spend some time
there and visit Ali Kroung tea tree in Elliott and
spend some time on the ground there, and I'll be
heading back to Alis next week. And I'll be spending
three weeks or so in Alice in December as well.
(09:29):
So it's really important you know, we're alive. We've got
representatives there that actually brief in and tell us what's
going on, and if they need extra resources or assistance,
we're there to help.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Now. Commissioner Domestic Violence, it continues to have a massive
impact on our community. How often are the police being
called out to domestic violence incidents each day.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Every single day, we'll receive between seventy and one hundred
calls for assistance across the Northern Territory. Last night we
had ninety calls for assistance across the Northern Territory for
domestic violence assaults and incidents, and sixty of them were
outside Darwin, So across the regional footprint Alice Springs, Tenant Creek,
Catherine and the remote areas. So you know, we talk
(10:09):
about some of the exciting things going on. So we've
gone to a one deputy commissioner model. We've increased two
assistant commissioners, one of them important will do the important
work of domestic violence and youth, and that leadership position
will be based Alice Springs with an additional commander.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
There were some concerns raised about that. We know that
it was reported earlier this month the two highly respected
Territory police officers were pushed out of the police top
brass amid a leadership shakeup which has upset some domestic
violence advocates. I know that acting Deputy Commissioner Michael White
and Assistant Commissioner satch and Sharma will not be continuing in.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Their current roles. Why did you make those moves?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
So Satchan Sharma will continue in the domestic violence role.
He's the Commander of Domestic Violence and Youth based in Darwin.
And they haven't been pushed out of the executive they're
still commanders and they're still assistant commissioners. They're part of
the executive team working on a very important aspect of
policing and protection of life, which is domestic violence. And
even as recent of this week, Michael's actually been in
(11:07):
Canberra talking with his counterparts across law enforcement and the
Domestic Violence National Commissioner about the important issue.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So you're saying they haven't been demosor.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
No, No, not at all. A lot Michael was acting
Deputy Commissioner. He'll be taking some leave later this year,
and we've got a really important part of the chronology
of law enforcement coming up with summer across and the
tropics in the monsoon emergency management, and we've got Surpro
rolling out in November. So I just need that really
important continuity for the workforce and leadership position to continue
(11:36):
across the whole executive.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It was reported though that Women's Safety Services of Central Australia.
Their Chief Executive, Larissa Ellis, had told the coroner that
the sector of loss to senior champions with that reshuffle.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Are you concerned about that?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Not at all. No, they're still in the Police Executive.
They're still contribute to the priorities of the Northern Territory
of Police, strategic priorities and the safety of the community,
which there's a number of aspects to that, and they
will still contribute as part of the team.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Commissioner, what is I mean you mentioned this a moment ago,
but what is going to be happening with the executive?
Are there going to be some more changes, more announcements.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, there's still recruitment that'll continue next year for the
Deputy commissioner position, and we've got two assistant commissioner positions
will recruit to. We've just appointed Commander James gray Spence
to the important position of Southern Command, so he's taking
the lead leaders position into the summer analyis now, so
that's some office stability. And then we've got another commander
position that will be advertised and recruited to internally for
(12:34):
the Domestic Violence and Youth position based in Alice Springs.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
All right, when are we expecting that to happen?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So the Acting Deputy Comissioner, Martin Dole is the chair
of that panel that's underway at the moment.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
All right now, alcohol issues, it continues to be a
massive issue, particularly well, I guess you'd say right across
the board, but I know that it's something that a
lot of people contact the show about. Why do you
think we're seeing an increase at the moment in that
public drinking.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
I think that, you know, I think the we see
a lot of secondary supplying. So our cohol is a
huge enabler for serious violent crime. We're seeing about sixty
six percent in relation to domestic violence. It's quite prevalent
when people drink in public places, and you know, we
see it in public parks and that's where most of
(13:17):
the crime the vulnerabilities are, whether it's a sexual assault
or other violent crime that's domestic RELATEDED it's usually intimate partner,
public place and our coals involved or another type of drug.
We're continually working. We've seen the Liquoract review that's underway
at the moment across government about what policing and other
apec is can do to limit the harm associated with
alcohol and substance misuse, and what that looks like is
(13:40):
a part of health. What looks like in law enforcement, obviously,
our focus is reducing availability and helping the regulating authority
control it because we see so prevalent in so many
of our response times. You know, one of the most
important things for us, and when we talk about going
back to engagement and proactive policing, is reducing the demand
because that allow us to shift the focus back from
(14:02):
the demand and the high tempo and the appetite we
have for public course assistance back into a frame where
that's decreased, we'd actually do some good work in the
prevention space.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
So how do you do that?
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Well, I think it's about having conversations about what we
can see and I'm very mindful, and it's hard because
it's a lawful substance, it's a business, and you know
it's got a regulating body looking after it. But it's
about what we see, and it's just providing that advice
to government to say, this is some options you might
be able to have and explore to help us reduce harm.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
I don't know if you've got this darter on you,
but just talking about those ninety call outs for example
last night around DV. What percentage of those callouts would
then be incidents that are happening in public places?
Speaker 3 (14:46):
A majority of them? Right, Yeah, there's I mean, we
do say, you know, I don't have those figures, but
a lot of them are in public We do say,
like public places, in even housing estates, those types of
of locations. But there is a lot of public place.
You know, when you look at the domestic violence in quests,
(15:06):
a lot of those harms are occurring in public places.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Like it is terrible really when you think of it
that way, and then when you kind of think to yourself, well,
what can we do to stop that from happening in
the first place, and to stop people from you know,
being out there drinking publicly and then leading to domestic
violence incidents. It's something that, like it is a really
serious issue for us, and.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I think that's something we'reve acknowledged, is we've got a
lot of work to do, and we've got to translate
our words now into actions and actually make a tangible.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Difference now just on that still on that public drinking.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I know that as part of that review, and we
were just talking about in a moment ago and what
had been you know, what had been basically tabled in parliament.
As I understand it, one of those recommendations that the
police have wanted to see was changes with the police
able to check ideas of those people that are drinking publicly.
Is that something do you think that would help in
some ways? I mean, if there is two people that
(15:58):
are sitting together drinking and there is you know, there
is like some kind of restraining order or something that
you're actually then able to check those licenses to ensure
that they're not together.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, I think of people. So it broadens. So under
the current powers, we can request information or identify person
when they may provide information and relation to an offense
or an investigation or the commission of an offense. This
will allow, for say a public someone drinking in public,
that we can actually ask the question and lawfully have
the ability to get the answer. So that will allow
(16:30):
us to find out if they've got proole orders outstanding,
if they've got domestic violence orders. We do, so it's
about probably managing it so officers act lawfully and the
conversation about human rights and natural justice and fairness like that,
and that's what government does, and that's why we say
we would like an additional power to look at this,
(16:50):
which gives our officers and enhance power, but it needs
to be balanced obviously with the community expectation, but it
will help us.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Yeah, Woul, it's the a minimization. Do you think in
some degree of what we do see when it comes
to that public drinking.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, it goes back to that very prevention piece about
knowing who we're dealing with instead of just moving people on.
We're working really incredibly hard with the patrol on network
as well, but if we can work out who we're
dealing with, where they're from, what enough, they've got a
history of violence, that's a flag for us, and say
what can we do to make sure that person doesn't
commit a crime later on? So I think that's really
(17:23):
that's the intelligence part as well, and about how we
direct resourcing to keep people safe. And when you've got
the vulnerabilities as usually people known to each other, intoxicated
in a public place, So that's where the greatest risk is.
So if we can do things to address that risk
and minimize any of those harms, it's a step in
the right direction.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Now, Commissioner, before I let you go this morning. The
separation of the try service, it's been something you know,
like I worked for in the Police Media Unit, I
guess like eighteen years ago. It's something that's been in
place for such a long period of time. But it
looks like it's all going to be separated. Is this
a positive move from your perspective?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Absolutely, it's really exciting. It's exciting for the fire is
its signing for the EMANCI services to have a direct
line and report to the Minister through a foreign Emergency
service commissioner is fantastic in what is future proofing fire
service and emergency services? In the Fire service what independence?
You know, they're hard working, they report through the CEO,
(18:20):
but they could have a direct line through or a commissioner.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Now.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Emergency services with the intensity increasing in climbactic change and
what that looks like for the territory is really exciting
for them as well. There won't be much change around
the emergency management acts for the territory controller and the
local controllers regional controllers because the police are everywhere, so
when we need to execute the mission will stand up
and do the job. But yeah, it is really exciting now.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
In addition, to that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Is it going to like is it going to be
from your perspective, do you think it's going to make
it a bit different or a bit easier for you
to focus all of your energy on the police and
on the policing issues and on the issues that we've
got with crime.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yeah. Absolutely, Like I'll always have a non emergency management
and obviously what you know, what we explore in the territories, fires, flood,
cyclones and other crisis that's our role. But it will
allow me to have a sharp and focus on policing
activities and you know what the future with the review
of being undertaken, future planning for the Northern Territory of Police.
(19:19):
So we're ready to go when our match fit commissioner.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Just one last question. Somebody's just messaged through and cities.
Is that Is it correct that it's now a new
Alice Alice Springs commander.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yes, yes, that's direct.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, yeah, And so obviously you're hoping that he'll come
in with a you know, with an approach to really
just get on top of everything down there.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
He already has, he's been acting in the role for
a few months. He's red hot and he's ready to
roll and he's on fire and he's doing a great
job and we'll look after the people of Alice Springs
in central Australia under his command.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Well, Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, we appreciate your time, Thanks
so much for joining us this morning.
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
The Northern Territory government earlier this week announced that more
than fifty police officers are going to be rostered on
Operation Drena throughout the summer period in Alice Springs. They're
going to be in a range of roles and at
different times throughout the season as that demand dictates. The
government says that Operation Drener is going to have a
particular focus on alcohol related defending, including assaults, unlawful entries
(00:22):
and domestic and family violence. So how can the police
manage to juggle well to have this many officers in
Alice Springs? Is it going to see more offices? I
mean we spoke to the Minister for Police about this.
But joining me on the show right now is the
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy. Good morning to you,
Good morning Kenny, thanks so much for your time this morning, Commissioner. Now,
(00:43):
fifty police, how is this being juggled when the Police
Association has been saying for quite some time that we're
facing staff shortages.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
So probably a couple of things. We're actually recruiting to
above attrician So we've got above FTA across the whole
Northern Churchary Police Force Operation DRAINA is a supplementary operation
to support frontline in Alice Springs. The planning around this
with the fifty additional is locally resourced. It's not drawing
(01:12):
on staff from other areas because as you understand, policing
across the Northern Territory has a high tempo at the moment.
There's many pressing issues and demands with rogue policing, domestic violence,
social order and property crime. So we've got to manage
that collectively and it is a priority. And what policing
operations do is focus on what's really important to the
(01:33):
community and right now the priority is public safety and
reassuring the members of the Alice Springs community and Central
Australia they are safe and it's about focusing the resources.
So we've got the patrol groups so when people and
we're doing a lot of work and can I say,
it's actually lots of opportunities and that's exciting. You know,
when people pick up the phone and want a police card,
(01:54):
they should be able to see a police car fairly quickly.
So there's a lot of work being done in the
joint Emencity Communication Center as well. The response patrols which
operate twenty four to seven hour springs. They get the
tasking out of the Joint Emergency Communications Center as well.
Then we've got a basically support crew, which is Operation
Drina that's operating twenty four to seven that supports that.
(02:14):
So at any one time you might have up to
six or seven police cars operating per shift across our springs.
And what we're trying to do is reduce the demand,
identify offending patterns, hotspots, what the issues are, and providing
some support to prevent crime and do the engagement even
through our aboriginal the agent officers with community identifying what
(02:35):
the patterns are to minimize and drive down and to
make sure we don't have the spike like we saw
last year.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And Commissioner, I mean, you make a really good point,
and that is one that people want to see police
when they call through. They want to make sure that
if there's a dangerous situation unfolding, that they're able to
actually get police officers out to the scene, whether it's
in Ala Springs or whether it's here in Darwin. Can
I just confirm though, that this operation isn't going to
the officers taken from other locations, So you're not actually
(03:03):
going to need to send them from Darwin or from
remote communities to Alice Springs to deal with their demand.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
What you will see is support from the mounted unit.
So you'll see the mounted unit in there. When you
see the bikes, they're local officers. You will see the
highway patrol and the traffic unit actually bolster in Ala
Springs as well. In early December, they'll roll out across
the territory as part of the festive season and our
road safety operations as well, so you will see traffic coming.
(03:30):
And obviously we do continuency planning so if for some
reason and police do get diverted for other operations or
emergency management or an investigation, if that's required, we've got
some planning in place for a three teet approach to
deploy additional resources anywhere across the territory should they be required.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
All right, So you're not actually going to be sending
fifty police officers from Darwin or anywhere else to Alice Springs,
but if there is a demand, you're going to get
those offices there as they need it, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And can I just note so that the enormous effort
from the officers in Alice Springs, Tenant Creek and Central Australia,
but the whole territory colickly because we're a team. But
you know that has been some leave management and the
threshold has been fairly tight, and there have been officers
who hadn't had their leave approved and I mean they've
made a sacrifice to work across the Christmas period and
(04:20):
the holiday period to keep territory and safe and I
just want to say thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So, Commissioner, is leave being canceled for some officers or
are they being told that this is not the time
to go away?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah? No, leaf hasn't been canceled, it's just not being approved.
So if there's late requests, we'd or a bit of
planning twelve months out. It's called gazetta leave and most
people allows them to plan trips overseas and the like.
But if you've got a late application, we've got thresholds
across different ranks and they'll probably just be disappointed when
it's not approved.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now, the same day that this announcement was being made,
there were distressing scenes in Alice Springs. So the man
allegedly smashing up windows of the CBD with an AX
like it was at four o'clock in the afternoon. We're
talking about an axe. It's a pretty violent thing to do.
Are you concerned at the level of, you know, a
violent behavior that you are seeing and the type of
(05:08):
weapons that you're seeing people use on the streets.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah. Over the last couple of years, and it's not
isolated in the Northern Territory. We're seen across Australia prevalence
of serious violence with weapons edged weapons. We've seen different
strategies put in place. Obviously, we've got the wanding. They
did some wanning operations now the springs yesterday were they
for a twelve hour period but no weapons were detected.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, yea.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So this this bloke obviously was carrying an axe around
like a full sized axe, and then you know, smashed
a car and then stole some items out of the
car and he was pretty quickly apprehended by us once
it was reported. And we had another incident last night
where a seventeen year old youth had a machete at
a service station. Apprehended fairly quickly. But it is concerning
(05:51):
when you see people who are armed. But we're doing
everything we can to obviously detect that and thank the
members of the public for calling as soon as they
see it so we can respond really quickly.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I mean, excuse my bluntness, but bloody hell, like you're
talking about a massive axe and then you're talking about
a kid with a machete, Like that's dangerous stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Absolutely, it is dangerous and it can do serious harm.
And you know that the role for us is to
make sure that we identify patterns of behavior and controlling
the wanting operations, the mere presence and just going back
to the additional police Whilst we talk about police response,
it's absolutely essential that police are out in a proactive role,
being seen and in places that are actually stopping offenses accrying.
(06:30):
So actually walking them all and going to talk to
shop owners and residents across Ola Springs makes an incredible difference,
and there's some really good feedback about seeing hops and
it's just that level of reassurance too that you're there,
you're on the spot, and you're actually deterring people from
making bad choices.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Is that something that you're sort of really trying to
push through as the new police commissioner, to make sure
that you know that the police are back out on
the streets doing that proactive policing because it did feel
as though it was something that we were lacking for
a few years there.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
It absolutely is a priority, the engagement being visible. I'm
talking to people, understanding what's going on and talking to
the you know, the coffee with the cop is just
a really simple step in the right direction to engage
with the community. And when it first kicked off, there
was a lot of frustration, and I understand people's frustration,
but what's really important is for us to listen to
the frustration and adjust our sales to make sure we
(07:21):
deliver a service to the community, because that's what you expect.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
One thing that people do seem very frustrated with is
kids behaving in a way that's unacceptable and not seeming
to be too worried about the consequence of their actions.
I mean, last week, and I know that the Northern
Territory Police did apprehend a number of these youths, but
last week we're in a situation where there was youths
allegedly throwing rocks and driving a stolen vehicle at the
(07:44):
Northern Territory Police.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Incredibly, it's just, you know, it's a whole range of
issues there about poor choices, you know what it looks like,
and that's where depending on their age. Obviously, if they're
above the age of twelve, they can face sanctions, whether
it's through dis version or go into the youth court.
But it's also the important work of Territory Families to
make sure they monitor the youth or what the issues
(08:08):
are is that you know, trauma, is that learning, is
a family issues at home and in guarantee all those boxes.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Atticked, Commissioner, do we have a situation though as well?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I mean you've got the police out on the beach
at twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
You know you're apprehending in some cases these young people.
But then if they are under the age of criminal responsibility, realistically,
you know you'd want Territory families to be able to
be there and to be able to help the police
so that your officers then aren't sort of being tied
up or their time is not being taken up for
(08:40):
an extended period with these young people.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Absolutely, and there's some conversations occurring right now and the
minister's very interested in as well and talking to the
Minister of the Territory Families about how they can assist
more in the field at a time where it's just
not taking police resource and time.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Now at Tenant Creek, there are some concerns about the
crime levels Tenant Creek and concerns as well that sometimes
they are the forgotten cousin. Is there additional work happening
in Tenant Creek around crime?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, Well, they've got the Investigation's crew there and they've
actually got a really good team there. They've got a
lot of good numbers and they're doing incredibly important work
and they're definitely not forgotten. I'll be in Tennant Creek
in the second week of January. I'll spend some time
there and visit Ali Kroung tea tree in Elliott and
spend some time on the ground there, and I'll be
heading back to Alis next week. And I'll be spending
three weeks or so in Alice in December as well.
(09:29):
So it's really important you know, we're alive. We've got
representatives there that actually brief in and tell us what's
going on, and if they need extra resources or assistance,
we're there to help.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Now. Commissioner Domestic Violence, it continues to have a massive
impact on our community. How often are the police being
called out to domestic violence incidents each day.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Every single day, we'll receive between seventy and one hundred
calls for assistance across the Northern Territory. Last night we
had ninety calls for assistance across the Northern Territory for
domestic violence assaults and incidents, and sixty of them were
outside Darwin, So across the regional footprint Alice Springs, Tenant Creek,
Catherine and the remote areas. So you know, we talk
(10:09):
about some of the exciting things going on. So we've
gone to a one deputy commissioner model. We've increased two
assistant commissioners, one of them important will do the important
work of domestic violence and youth, and that leadership position
will be based Alice Springs with an additional commander.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
There were some concerns raised about that. We know that
it was reported earlier this month the two highly respected
Territory police officers were pushed out of the police top
brass amid a leadership shakeup which has upset some domestic
violence advocates. I know that acting Deputy Commissioner Michael White
and Assistant Commissioner satch and Sharma will not be continuing in.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Their current roles. Why did you make those moves?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
So Satchan Sharma will continue in the domestic violence role.
He's the Commander of Domestic Violence and Youth based in Darwin.
And they haven't been pushed out of the executive they're
still commanders and they're still assistant commissioners. They're part of
the executive team working on a very important aspect of
policing and protection of life, which is domestic violence. And
even as recent of this week, Michael's actually been in
(11:07):
Canberra talking with his counterparts across law enforcement and the
Domestic Violence National Commissioner about the important issue.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So you're saying they haven't been demosor.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
No, No, not at all. A lot Michael was acting
Deputy Commissioner. He'll be taking some leave later this year,
and we've got a really important part of the chronology
of law enforcement coming up with summer across and the
tropics in the monsoon emergency management, and we've got Surpro
rolling out in November. So I just need that really
important continuity for the workforce and leadership position to continue
(11:36):
across the whole executive.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It was reported though that Women's Safety Services of Central Australia.
Their Chief Executive, Larissa Ellis, had told the coroner that
the sector of loss to senior champions with that reshuffle.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Are you concerned about that?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Not at all. No, they're still in the Police Executive.
They're still contribute to the priorities of the Northern Territory
of Police, strategic priorities and the safety of the community,
which there's a number of aspects to that, and they
will still contribute as part of the team.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Commissioner, what is I mean you mentioned this a moment ago,
but what is going to be happening with the executive?
Are there going to be some more changes, more announcements.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, there's still recruitment that'll continue next year for the
Deputy commissioner position, and we've got two assistant commissioner positions
will recruit to. We've just appointed Commander James gray Spence
to the important position of Southern Command, so he's taking
the lead leaders position into the summer analyis now, so
that's some office stability. And then we've got another commander
position that will be advertised and recruited to internally for
(12:34):
the Domestic Violence and Youth position based in Alice Springs.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
All right, when are we expecting that to happen?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So the Acting Deputy Comissioner, Martin Dole is the chair
of that panel that's underway at the moment.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
All right now, alcohol issues, it continues to be a
massive issue, particularly well, I guess you'd say right across
the board, but I know that it's something that a
lot of people contact the show about. Why do you
think we're seeing an increase at the moment in that
public drinking.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
I think that, you know, I think the we see
a lot of secondary supplying. So our cohol is a
huge enabler for serious violent crime. We're seeing about sixty
six percent in relation to domestic violence. It's quite prevalent
when people drink in public places, and you know, we
see it in public parks and that's where most of
(13:17):
the crime the vulnerabilities are, whether it's a sexual assault
or other violent crime that's domestic RELATEDED it's usually intimate partner,
public place and our coals involved or another type of drug.
We're continually working. We've seen the Liquoract review that's underway
at the moment across government about what policing and other
apec is can do to limit the harm associated with
alcohol and substance misuse, and what that looks like is
(13:40):
a part of health. What looks like in law enforcement, obviously,
our focus is reducing availability and helping the regulating authority
control it because we see so prevalent in so many
of our response times. You know, one of the most
important things for us, and when we talk about going
back to engagement and proactive policing, is reducing the demand
because that allow us to shift the focus back from
(14:02):
the demand and the high tempo and the appetite we
have for public course assistance back into a frame where
that's decreased, we'd actually do some good work in the
prevention space.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
So how do you do that?
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Well, I think it's about having conversations about what we
can see and I'm very mindful, and it's hard because
it's a lawful substance, it's a business, and you know
it's got a regulating body looking after it. But it's
about what we see, and it's just providing that advice
to government to say, this is some options you might
be able to have and explore to help us reduce harm.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
I don't know if you've got this darter on you,
but just talking about those ninety call outs for example
last night around DV. What percentage of those callouts would
then be incidents that are happening in public places?
Speaker 3 (14:46):
A majority of them? Right, Yeah, there's I mean, we
do say, you know, I don't have those figures, but
a lot of them are in public We do say,
like public places, in even housing estates, those types of
of locations. But there is a lot of public place.
You know, when you look at the domestic violence in quests,
(15:06):
a lot of those harms are occurring in public places.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Like it is terrible really when you think of it
that way, and then when you kind of think to yourself, well,
what can we do to stop that from happening in
the first place, and to stop people from you know,
being out there drinking publicly and then leading to domestic
violence incidents. It's something that, like it is a really
serious issue for us, and.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I think that's something we'reve acknowledged, is we've got a
lot of work to do, and we've got to translate
our words now into actions and actually make a tangible.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Difference now just on that still on that public drinking.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I know that as part of that review, and we
were just talking about in a moment ago and what
had been you know, what had been basically tabled in parliament.
As I understand it, one of those recommendations that the
police have wanted to see was changes with the police
able to check ideas of those people that are drinking publicly.
Is that something do you think that would help in
some ways? I mean, if there is two people that
(15:58):
are sitting together drinking and there is you know, there
is like some kind of restraining order or something that
you're actually then able to check those licenses to ensure
that they're not together.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, I think of people. So it broadens. So under
the current powers, we can request information or identify person
when they may provide information and relation to an offense
or an investigation or the commission of an offense. This
will allow, for say a public someone drinking in public,
that we can actually ask the question and lawfully have
the ability to get the answer. So that will allow
(16:30):
us to find out if they've got proole orders outstanding,
if they've got domestic violence orders. We do, so it's
about probably managing it so officers act lawfully and the
conversation about human rights and natural justice and fairness like that,
and that's what government does, and that's why we say
we would like an additional power to look at this,
(16:50):
which gives our officers and enhance power, but it needs
to be balanced obviously with the community expectation, but it
will help us.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Yeah, Woul, it's the a minimization. Do you think in
some degree of what we do see when it comes
to that public drinking.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, it goes back to that very prevention piece about
knowing who we're dealing with instead of just moving people on.
We're working really incredibly hard with the patrol on network
as well, but if we can work out who we're
dealing with, where they're from, what enough, they've got a
history of violence, that's a flag for us, and say
what can we do to make sure that person doesn't
commit a crime later on? So I think that's really
(17:23):
that's the intelligence part as well, and about how we
direct resourcing to keep people safe. And when you've got
the vulnerabilities as usually people known to each other, intoxicated
in a public place, So that's where the greatest risk is.
So if we can do things to address that risk
and minimize any of those harms, it's a step in
the right direction.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Now, Commissioner, before I let you go this morning. The
separation of the try service, it's been something you know,
like I worked for in the Police Media Unit, I
guess like eighteen years ago. It's something that's been in
place for such a long period of time. But it
looks like it's all going to be separated. Is this
a positive move from your perspective?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Absolutely, it's really exciting. It's exciting for the fire is
its signing for the EMANCI services to have a direct
line and report to the Minister through a foreign Emergency
service commissioner is fantastic in what is future proofing fire
service and emergency services? In the Fire service what independence?
You know, they're hard working, they report through the CEO,
(18:20):
but they could have a direct line through or a commissioner.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Now.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Emergency services with the intensity increasing in climbactic change and
what that looks like for the territory is really exciting
for them as well. There won't be much change around
the emergency management acts for the territory controller and the
local controllers regional controllers because the police are everywhere, so
when we need to execute the mission will stand up
and do the job. But yeah, it is really exciting now.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
In addition, to that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Is it going to like is it going to be
from your perspective, do you think it's going to make
it a bit different or a bit easier for you
to focus all of your energy on the police and
on the policing issues and on the issues that we've
got with crime.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yeah. Absolutely, Like I'll always have a non emergency management
and obviously what you know, what we explore in the territories, fires, flood,
cyclones and other crisis that's our role. But it will
allow me to have a sharp and focus on policing
activities and you know what the future with the review
of being undertaken, future planning for the Northern Territory of Police.
(19:19):
So we're ready to go when our match fit commissioner.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Just one last question. Somebody's just messaged through and cities.
Is that Is it correct that it's now a new
Alice Alice Springs commander.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yes, yes, that's direct.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, yeah, And so obviously you're hoping that he'll come
in with a you know, with an approach to really
just get on top of everything down there.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
He already has, he's been acting in the role for
a few months. He's red hot and he's ready to
roll and he's on fire and he's doing a great
job and we'll look after the people of Alice Springs
in central Australia under his command.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Well, Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, we appreciate your time, Thanks
so much for joining us this morning.
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