Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the things that we've been grappling with well
all throughout this year is the issues that we've got
with crime and anti social behavior. Now I'm pleased to
say that joining me on the line right now is
the Northern Territories Police Commissioner Michael Murphy. Good morning to you.
Police Commissioner. Good morning Katie, thanks so much for your time. Now, firstly, Commissioner,
(00:21):
I have to ask the change of Chief Minister, what
is that going to mean for the police in terms
of your strategic direction.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Nothing, It'll be business as usual. We will continue to
do the good work we do, as is the Fire
Service and Emergency services. Or just to wait and see
what the new leadership team looks like. And you know,
any adminisative order changes, but it doesn't affect our business.
Will continue to do the work. You know, we do
have a strategic plan now that will change into the
(00:50):
new year. But you know, I just highlight it's been
an incredibly hard year. Our officers have been working incredibly hard,
the Fire Service and emergency services with the incidents with
flooding and fire and weather events. So but we won't
change our posture, will continue to do the good work
we do. To protect the community.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Now, what do you mean in terms of changing strategic
plan for next year.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So we've got a current one which is twenty thirty.
What we're going to do is renew it and do
it over a shorter timeframe and actually go to the
workforce as well and do some focus groups with the constables.
You know, think about like a safe territory. How we're
going to achieve that through crime suppression, detection, disruption investigation,
and another pillar can be around the workforce and the
(01:35):
well being. So the well being of our people is
incredibly important. They've worked incredibly hard and it does take
a toll on their mental health and their physical health,
So focusing that, making that a real priority, investing in
that as well, and then you know, innovation and future
proving the police force into the future and what that's
going to look like on the back of you know,
(01:56):
there's some exciting things happening with the Try service, separation,
with the fire and AMENTA services getting their own commissioner
next year and a level of independence to the ministerial portfolio.
The restructure of the police force with two additional portfolios
focusing on social order and with the intro crime is
a priority for us. There's too many people we experience
(02:17):
crime types across the territory. We're working incredibly hard to
reduce that. Well, we have those changes in the police
force as well. We have to adjust our thinking into
the future and go to the workforce, so they are
part of it. So it's co owned, co designed.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We did read out those crime stats yesterday, the latest
crime stats. They're shocking. I mean some of those rates
are at a ten year high. What is your plan
to bring those rates down and really make people feel
safe to live in the Northern Territory again.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So we're have a few priority areas. So the domestic
violence and youth issues are still front and center of
our minds. We've credded the new portfolio for domestic violence
and youth because we know the link between both of them.
Domestic violence displacing youth onto the street and then they
make poor choices and commit crimes. So investing in that
but just not as a police force, but whole of
government through territory, family, through education and health, and you know,
(03:14):
through the action plan with the domestic violence, and obviously
through the probably what we'll see through recommendations from the
coroner shortly of the four inquests, how we adjust our
footprint abound focusing on recidivist victims, reducing harm to them,
how we actually address high harm offenders and better manage
them to change their behaviors, and investing in programs. So
(03:36):
domestic violence is a huge, like a massive priority for
us when we look at social order, you know, some
things coming up to change that posture as well. We're
seeing the announcement of the Territory Safety Division, which will
see a high tempo, high visibility policing team that will
probably be built over the next four months, a team
of fifty seven that will focus on liquor bial compliance,
(04:00):
it's domestic violence compliance, but also a surge capacity, and
they'll be there to back up officers in the field
to the public halls for assistance. And in all the
suite of changes with incremental changes to operating ours, the hotels,
the harmonimization will the bd O and BDR amendments, those
suite of changes will make a difference to reduce liquor
(04:23):
and that as an enabler for crime.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, look, I'll delve a bit more deeply into some
of those issues in just a moment, but that new
new unit that was announced last week that's going to
be based in Nightcliffe. I mean, is that still going
to go ahead given the change to the Chief Minister.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah. Absolutely, that's a commitment we've got. The new unit
will be established and it'll grow over time as we've
got eighty five recruits in the college at the moment,
as they come out into the field, and then we'll
recruit to the positions in the new safety Division. I
just can't advertise fifty seven positions now because it'll draw
down from the front line. So it just needs to
(04:59):
be a graduated recruitment process into that new division. And
obviously we've got to procure equipment and cars as well,
because I'll have additional vehicles to support their operations. We'll
go through that procurement process. That will be based in Nightcliff.
There's some obviously the Youth Engagement and other teams there
as well, but there will also be a presence from
the Domestic Violence and Youth Command into Nightcliff Police Station.
So it's been utilized.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah. I was going to say, why has that location
been decided? Is it because you know that Nightcliff Police station,
it's there, It's massive and it is being underutilized.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, it's got lots of space in there and it's
underutilized and we need to use it. So we're going
to put some resources in there. Whilst you know that'll
be their base, they probably won't be there because I'll
be up in the field the Territory Safety Division whilst
they're based in Doe and concerge into other areas of
the territory as well when required and even come to
our springs.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Is it going to be, though, a situation where you're
having to draw like general Duties officers from other locations
and from other areas where they'd usually be working to
work in that division.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, And I think that's what I was trying to
explain before. As the recruits come out of the college
and you know, we bolster the front line, that means
we can put the people who want to apply from
the front line into that Territory Safety Division. I just
can't populate the division right now because it would draw
down from the general policing units. But it's about adjusting
our you know, what we do to prioritize what's important
(06:19):
for the community, and it's that high engagement, high visibility
to terrans and addressing social order issues, addressing youth people
who have their houses breaken into and their car style on.
We've got to better manage those offenders as well and
do some work in that space.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Commissioner, you know it has been like when you look
at those crime stats, they are incredibly high, and I
think we all understand that it's that it is year
on year, but we are all grappling with.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
The issues that we've got with crime, and.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
By and large, people are very supportive of the Northern
Territory Police and the work that you guys do. Last week, though,
there was that large disturbance at Casarina. Now General duties
attended and while in attendance, officers observed a man a
youth a machete before the youth allegedly ran towards members
of the public, ignoring police commands to stop. Now, police
(07:07):
and pursued the youth on foot, deployed a taser and
nearby member of security assisted in apprehending that fifteen year old,
who was subsequently arrested with the machete and drugs in
his possession. Now the youth was uninjured. That youth was
then conveyed home to a responsible adult.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Why that's the.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Decision obviously of the management team at the time, considering
all the circumstances. I've asked the same question, you know,
probably in that scenario, and I've got to be careful
beauty of hindsight, bet, I trust our officers to make
the decision at that point in time, considering all the
circumstances the control if there is a responsible adult, they
(07:50):
can go to in the first instance and proceed by
summons because we arrest is last resort. But how do
we balance that with a youth that's armed with a
machete and alledged that the machelle was passed when by
the adult and you know we had drugs on ms.
How do we best manage the future for that child?
And is it through the criminal justice system? Noting that
(08:12):
you carrying a machete with a change in legislation actually
changes the bail onus as well. So I've asked those
questions of the team, and like, I respect the decision
that's been made by the management team and the operators
at the time, but more I can say it's an
incredibly swift and professional response by our officers and that
just demonstrates by what they do each and every day.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I mean, look, I totally understand what you're saying, and
I feel the same. I respect the hard work that
our Northern Territory Police do and very often I feel
like they are put in these situations that are so
incredibly dangerous and they're protecting the community. But I just wonder,
and I know that the public is asking what kind
of message does that send to other people getting in
brawls at Casarina or anywhere else who then are armed
(08:57):
with a weapon and kilarly for our young people and
they're then just being taken home to a responsible adult.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, and neither. I mean that it is a complex
decision making process when you're dealing with young people, but
we still put a lot of young people before the
court as well for the behaviors, and that's the officers
making those considerations in consultation with an authorized officer, a
senior sergeant. And then there's some collaborative work with charity
families as well. And this is one instance, but there's
many other instances where we've arrested youth and put them
(09:28):
before the court. The Youth court's quite busy as well,
So yeah, look, it's a case by case basis. I
respect the decision they're made in the time, you know,
and we'll just keep doing what we're doing, and we
will respond and address crime and take the necessary action
to make sure that the community is protected them.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
I mean, is that the concern here though?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Are we in a situation where the youth courts are
so busy, where our jails are so full that those
kinds of you know, that those kinds of factors are
being taken into account as well when you're dealing with people.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
That's not my decision, Katie. That's the decision for the
justice administration and the judges. May they consider a lot
of things, but yeah, that's not where this put them.
We obtained the evidence and put people before the court,
and that the justice system make determinations.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Now, I have been sent some vision as well from
Alice Springs, so I know that you are joining us
this morning.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
From Alice Springs.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Darren Clark has a huge amount of vision from the weekend.
By the look of it, a group of about forty
people roaming the streets and getting into fights. What work
is happening in Alice at the moment, and how are
things going from your perspectives?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Really really well. I've been in other springs for since
about the seventh of December, coming in and out for
a couple of nights. That's going really well. The officers,
obviously the public response with our response patrols are supported
by Operation Drina, which is three to four additional units
every night, every roster shift. That's making an incredible difference.
(11:01):
It's still quite busy here, the social orders still busy.
I still have some concerns with some licensed premises here.
I think the footage you're referring to is outside some
licensed premises opposite the council chambers. That concerns me. And
we've got our team actually go and have a discussion
(11:22):
with the management of the hotels there today, because you know,
we talk about the responsible service of alcohol. When people
come out of the licensed premises, they can't be at
a state of intoxication that causes serious concern to the
public and engaging poor behaviors. So that's something we continue
to focus on.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
I mean, some of them look like kids, though some
of them look quite young, and I guess for some
people in Alice, they're going to be thinking to themselves
listening this morning, you know, while you are saying things
are going quite good.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I guess if you've got huge.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Groups congregating and punching on with each other, it might
not seem that good to some of the locals.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
That's right. What I can emphasize is our response is strong.
What we're trying to do is adjust it so we
don't have to respond and we can deal with some
of the enablers of these behaviors as well. What we're
saying in the last even since the establishment of a
safe place with Territory Families, we've had fourteen young people
taken to the safe place in our springs and it's
making a difference because it's engaging with parents and they're
(12:22):
aware of the choices that children are making, so it's
hopefully correcting behaviors. They're vulnerable kids who are usually out
of the house for other reasons, usually lead to domestic violence.
What we're also saying is a massive efficiency for our
police officers because we're not driving around for hours on
end trying to take a child to a safe place.
We try a responsible adult first, or a safe place.
(12:43):
If that doesn't exist, case to the Territory Family safe Place,
we do a handover and we get back into doing
police business.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
All right, I want to ask about those changes to
bottleshop opening hours for the top end. How are things
going with that at this point, do you think from
your perspective, yes.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Ask this week, I just asked, how did the first
week go with the two hour the later opening. The
evidence from the patrollers, as they're saying, less social order behaviors,
like any social behaviors in the field. It's probably too
early to say. It'll be evaluated at the end of January,
and that's where we'll have a better collection of information
(13:20):
from the patrollers, the protective customs, feedback from the community,
all those really valuable data sources where we can actually
get a bit of a snapshot over eight weeks. So far,
it looks positive and we'll just have to see and
measure it. And we'll see obviously the other amendments with
the liquor harm reduction, the BDOS, the BDR a higher
(13:41):
visible presence from policing, engaging with the public and addressing
these issues. So the suite of changes will continue to
make a difference.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Are we just tinkering around the edges here? Though?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I mean there has been some sort of some suggestion
that you would like to see people aren't able to
buy alcohol if they don't have a fixed address to
be able to stay.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
And consumers.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, there's a couple of things I've discussed. It's around
what type of items are for sale. So you know
you're eleven hundred and twenty five mil bottles of spirits.
We see that in the field they cause considerable harm
on consumption in public places, more scrutiny around safe places
to drink and people that's a lawful place to consume liquor.
(14:24):
So if people are leaving how they go and drink
in a public park or a public space, we know
we're quite confident that will respond to some type of
incident there later after our call is consumed. So that's
where the proactive stuff is. Through the Territory Safety Coordination
Center to look at the patrol in network, look at
preventative preemptive measures we can do to engage to reduce
(14:46):
those levels of harm, and actually still engage with hospitality
and industry to put better measures in place to help us.
Keeping in mind, like I asked for a lot, it's
a regulated, lo awful business and a business model. So
it's about having those conversations and relationships to say, how
can we do some things to better improve community safety
(15:08):
because liquor is a huge enable for us in harm
in the community.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Well, and I guess and when we look at the
rates of domestic violence as well, like how much of
that domestic violence is happening in public places when people
are consuming alcohol, A great deal.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Of it, most of a of a lot of the
serious violence offenses of homicides, intimate partners, alcohol is involved
in its public places. So it is one of our
you know, what we focus on to try and address
those issues, but not just as a police force, but
a whole of government, even the domestic violence portfolio. And
I don't know how much work Minister Warden did when
(15:45):
she was the police minister because she had the domestic
violence portfolio as well. So that real preemptive you know,
victim survivors and those high harm offenders, because it's usually
we see a high rate of recidivism for people who
commit serious violence. Again, women and children.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I know you are, I know your press for time,
as are we this morning. I've just got a couple
of other things that I do want to ask you about.
I mean, just on that alcohol for an example, you know,
over the weekend a friend of mine who's got a property,
they went out to go and you know, to go
and check on their property out in the Palmerston area.
There's glass, there's things all smashed up around the place.
(16:21):
People out there drinking in that spot. It's not a
public spot, but you know, they're sort of they're on
the footpath drinking in that spot. Asked where they're from,
they said they're from they're visiting from a community. Said well,
where are you staying, Well, we're sort of staying here.
I mean, how do we stop that kind of thing
from happening where people are coming in from town, they're
you know, they're purchasing alcohol, which they're lawfully allowed to do,
(16:43):
but then drinking it in those public or sort of
you know, semi public places, you know, in places like Yarawonga,
on footpaths, running a mark.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And and it just sort of continues to happen.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
So I think what's important is to make sure that
that's reported to us so we can get an idea
of where behaviors are occurring and when. Then there's the
practical element of dispatching patrols or patrollers or larycia to
go and engage with them. What you'll see with the
new amendments in the Liquor Act is if they're drinking
(17:19):
in a public place or a high risk area or
a restricted area, we can add them to the police
officer can add them to a BDO which gets them
on the BDR to seven days. If there's a second occurrence,
it's another seven days, and if it's a third occurrence,
it's three months. So you'll see some more audience on
the BDR into the future and through the automation through
(17:42):
our we're just rolling out the serve Pro system for
the new police system on the twenty seventh November. That's
automating some of those processes for us, and we're trying
to automate some things in the next year as well,
so it's easier for the police force to add people
to limit the access to alcohol. We make cause from it.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Commissioner I am told that that serve Pro system at
the moment, it is quite an arduous sort of situation
right now where it's taking quite some time to process things.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Is that going to get a bit better?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Absolutely? So. Last thing I need is a cop tied
to a desk typing in data. So what we're doing
is centralizing an input area and we'll have some ministry
officers doing the data entry. I just can't afford, Like,
if an officer goes out and deals with ten people
drinking in public places and that says conservatively ten minutes
each that's our and forty minutes of data entry, it's
(18:34):
not acceptable. We need to be doing out the police
work in the field. So we're standing up a team
to support that operation. So we're not doing data entry
until it's all mated, probably you know, early to be
next year.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Well, Police Commissioner, it has been a massive year, you
know for you, I know you've been acting.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
In the role, you know, in that role permanently.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
It's been such a massive year when you look at
twenty twenty four and how are you going to juggle
it all and how are you going to sort of
meet the community's expectations of.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
That management of crime?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And I know it is definitely not just the job
of you as the Police commissioner or the police force.
It is absolutely across the board. But for you and
your role, you know, how are you going to approach
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Well, a couple of things is we have new ideas,
exploring new ideas, listening to the front line, how to
make the difference, listening to the community we're all in
this together, and how we make a difference collectively, our workforce.
It has been a huge year and we will work
continue to work incredibly hard, but we need to explore
new ideas and new ways of doing things and that
real collegiate partnership across government and NGOs to make a
(19:41):
difference to people's lives and drive down crime and basically
protect territory. And so we've got a few challenges ahead.
Were up for it, and I look forward to an
exciting twenty twenty four and I really hope that settles
down a bit.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah, I think we're all hoping exactly the same thing.
And Commissioner, any message for territorians over that Christmas break, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Look all the best for twenty twenty four. It's been
a big year. It's been a tough couple of years.
Be safe, enjoy time with your family and if you're traveling,
take care on the roads. We've already got an unacceptably
high road toll. Take a break, plan your trips where
you see, don't speed, don't drink and drive all those
the common messages, but yeah, look after each other, enjoy
(20:23):
the time with family, and I look forward to our
prosperous twenty.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Twenty four Well, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, we
really appreciate your time this morning. I know it's been
an extensive chat. We appreciate you speaking to us and
all the very best.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I've the Christmas break.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family, and
I hope that all of our Northern Territory Police Force
hopefully things do get a bit calmer. And I really
you know, we thank our whole Northern Territory Police Force
for all of the very hard work that they do.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And don't forget the fire eas yeah services and coming
to the a period of possibly cyclone and luckily enough
Jasper's not coming towards us, so we'll have a bit
of respite there. But the try service works incredibly hard,
so and I appreciate your sentiment and thank you, thanks
so
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Much for your time this morning.
One of the things that we've been grappling with well
all throughout this year is the issues that we've got
with crime and anti social behavior. Now I'm pleased to
say that joining me on the line right now is
the Northern Territories Police Commissioner Michael Murphy. Good morning to you.
Police Commissioner. Good morning Katie, thanks so much for your time. Now, firstly, Commissioner,
(00:21):
I have to ask the change of Chief Minister, what
is that going to mean for the police in terms
of your strategic direction.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Nothing, It'll be business as usual. We will continue to
do the good work we do, as is the Fire
Service and Emergency services. Or just to wait and see
what the new leadership team looks like. And you know,
any adminisative order changes, but it doesn't affect our business.
Will continue to do the work. You know, we do
have a strategic plan now that will change into the
(00:50):
new year. But you know, I just highlight it's been
an incredibly hard year. Our officers have been working incredibly hard,
the Fire Service and emergency services with the incidents with
flooding and fire and weather events. So but we won't
change our posture, will continue to do the good work
we do. To protect the community.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Now, what do you mean in terms of changing strategic
plan for next year.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So we've got a current one which is twenty thirty.
What we're going to do is renew it and do
it over a shorter timeframe and actually go to the
workforce as well and do some focus groups with the constables.
You know, think about like a safe territory. How we're
going to achieve that through crime suppression, detection, disruption investigation,
and another pillar can be around the workforce and the
(01:35):
well being. So the well being of our people is
incredibly important. They've worked incredibly hard and it does take
a toll on their mental health and their physical health,
So focusing that, making that a real priority, investing in
that as well, and then you know, innovation and future
proving the police force into the future and what that's
going to look like on the back of you know,
(01:56):
there's some exciting things happening with the Try service, separation,
with the fire and AMENTA services getting their own commissioner
next year and a level of independence to the ministerial portfolio.
The restructure of the police force with two additional portfolios
focusing on social order and with the intro crime is
a priority for us. There's too many people we experience
(02:17):
crime types across the territory. We're working incredibly hard to
reduce that. Well, we have those changes in the police
force as well. We have to adjust our thinking into
the future and go to the workforce, so they are
part of it. So it's co owned, co designed.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We did read out those crime stats yesterday, the latest
crime stats. They're shocking. I mean some of those rates
are at a ten year high. What is your plan
to bring those rates down and really make people feel
safe to live in the Northern Territory again.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So we're have a few priority areas. So the domestic
violence and youth issues are still front and center of
our minds. We've credded the new portfolio for domestic violence
and youth because we know the link between both of them.
Domestic violence displacing youth onto the street and then they
make poor choices and commit crimes. So investing in that
but just not as a police force, but whole of
government through territory, family, through education and health, and you know,
(03:14):
through the action plan with the domestic violence, and obviously
through the probably what we'll see through recommendations from the
coroner shortly of the four inquests, how we adjust our
footprint abound focusing on recidivist victims, reducing harm to them,
how we actually address high harm offenders and better manage
them to change their behaviors, and investing in programs. So
(03:36):
domestic violence is a huge, like a massive priority for
us when we look at social order, you know, some
things coming up to change that posture as well. We're
seeing the announcement of the Territory Safety Division, which will
see a high tempo, high visibility policing team that will
probably be built over the next four months, a team
of fifty seven that will focus on liquor bial compliance,
(04:00):
it's domestic violence compliance, but also a surge capacity, and
they'll be there to back up officers in the field
to the public halls for assistance. And in all the
suite of changes with incremental changes to operating ours, the hotels,
the harmonimization will the bd O and BDR amendments, those
suite of changes will make a difference to reduce liquor
(04:23):
and that as an enabler for crime.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, look, I'll delve a bit more deeply into some
of those issues in just a moment, but that new
new unit that was announced last week that's going to
be based in Nightcliffe. I mean, is that still going
to go ahead given the change to the Chief Minister.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah. Absolutely, that's a commitment we've got. The new unit
will be established and it'll grow over time as we've
got eighty five recruits in the college at the moment,
as they come out into the field, and then we'll
recruit to the positions in the new safety Division. I
just can't advertise fifty seven positions now because it'll draw
down from the front line. So it just needs to
(04:59):
be a graduated recruitment process into that new division. And
obviously we've got to procure equipment and cars as well,
because I'll have additional vehicles to support their operations. We'll
go through that procurement process. That will be based in Nightcliff.
There's some obviously the Youth Engagement and other teams there
as well, but there will also be a presence from
the Domestic Violence and Youth Command into Nightcliff Police Station.
So it's been utilized.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah. I was going to say, why has that location
been decided? Is it because you know that Nightcliff Police station,
it's there, It's massive and it is being underutilized.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, it's got lots of space in there and it's
underutilized and we need to use it. So we're going
to put some resources in there. Whilst you know that'll
be their base, they probably won't be there because I'll
be up in the field the Territory Safety Division whilst
they're based in Doe and concerge into other areas of
the territory as well when required and even come to
our springs.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Is it going to be, though, a situation where you're
having to draw like general Duties officers from other locations
and from other areas where they'd usually be working to
work in that division.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, And I think that's what I was trying to
explain before. As the recruits come out of the college
and you know, we bolster the front line, that means
we can put the people who want to apply from
the front line into that Territory Safety Division. I just
can't populate the division right now because it would draw
down from the general policing units. But it's about adjusting
our you know, what we do to prioritize what's important
(06:19):
for the community, and it's that high engagement, high visibility
to terrans and addressing social order issues, addressing youth people
who have their houses breaken into and their car style on.
We've got to better manage those offenders as well and
do some work in that space.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Commissioner, you know it has been like when you look
at those crime stats, they are incredibly high, and I
think we all understand that it's that it is year
on year, but we are all grappling with.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
The issues that we've got with crime, and.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
By and large, people are very supportive of the Northern
Territory Police and the work that you guys do. Last week, though,
there was that large disturbance at Casarina. Now General duties
attended and while in attendance, officers observed a man a
youth a machete before the youth allegedly ran towards members
of the public, ignoring police commands to stop. Now, police
(07:07):
and pursued the youth on foot, deployed a taser and
nearby member of security assisted in apprehending that fifteen year old,
who was subsequently arrested with the machete and drugs in
his possession. Now the youth was uninjured. That youth was
then conveyed home to a responsible adult.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Why that's the.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Decision obviously of the management team at the time, considering
all the circumstances. I've asked the same question, you know,
probably in that scenario, and I've got to be careful
beauty of hindsight, bet, I trust our officers to make
the decision at that point in time, considering all the
circumstances the control if there is a responsible adult, they
(07:50):
can go to in the first instance and proceed by
summons because we arrest is last resort. But how do
we balance that with a youth that's armed with a
machete and alledged that the machelle was passed when by
the adult and you know we had drugs on ms.
How do we best manage the future for that child?
And is it through the criminal justice system? Noting that
(08:12):
you carrying a machete with a change in legislation actually
changes the bail onus as well. So I've asked those
questions of the team, and like, I respect the decision
that's been made by the management team and the operators
at the time, but more I can say it's an
incredibly swift and professional response by our officers and that
just demonstrates by what they do each and every day.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I mean, look, I totally understand what you're saying, and
I feel the same. I respect the hard work that
our Northern Territory Police do and very often I feel
like they are put in these situations that are so
incredibly dangerous and they're protecting the community. But I just wonder,
and I know that the public is asking what kind
of message does that send to other people getting in
brawls at Casarina or anywhere else who then are armed
(08:57):
with a weapon and kilarly for our young people and
they're then just being taken home to a responsible adult.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, and neither. I mean that it is a complex
decision making process when you're dealing with young people, but
we still put a lot of young people before the
court as well for the behaviors, and that's the officers
making those considerations in consultation with an authorized officer, a
senior sergeant. And then there's some collaborative work with charity
families as well. And this is one instance, but there's
many other instances where we've arrested youth and put them
(09:28):
before the court. The Youth court's quite busy as well,
So yeah, look, it's a case by case basis. I
respect the decision they're made in the time, you know,
and we'll just keep doing what we're doing, and we
will respond and address crime and take the necessary action
to make sure that the community is protected them.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
I mean, is that the concern here though?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Are we in a situation where the youth courts are
so busy, where our jails are so full that those
kinds of you know, that those kinds of factors are
being taken into account as well when you're dealing with people.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
That's not my decision, Katie. That's the decision for the
justice administration and the judges. May they consider a lot
of things, but yeah, that's not where this put them.
We obtained the evidence and put people before the court,
and that the justice system make determinations.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Now, I have been sent some vision as well from
Alice Springs, so I know that you are joining us
this morning.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
From Alice Springs.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Darren Clark has a huge amount of vision from the weekend.
By the look of it, a group of about forty
people roaming the streets and getting into fights. What work
is happening in Alice at the moment, and how are
things going from your perspectives?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Really really well. I've been in other springs for since
about the seventh of December, coming in and out for
a couple of nights. That's going really well. The officers,
obviously the public response with our response patrols are supported
by Operation Drina, which is three to four additional units
every night, every roster shift. That's making an incredible difference.
(11:01):
It's still quite busy here, the social orders still busy.
I still have some concerns with some licensed premises here.
I think the footage you're referring to is outside some
licensed premises opposite the council chambers. That concerns me. And
we've got our team actually go and have a discussion
(11:22):
with the management of the hotels there today, because you know,
we talk about the responsible service of alcohol. When people
come out of the licensed premises, they can't be at
a state of intoxication that causes serious concern to the
public and engaging poor behaviors. So that's something we continue
to focus on.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
I mean, some of them look like kids, though some
of them look quite young, and I guess for some
people in Alice, they're going to be thinking to themselves
listening this morning, you know, while you are saying things
are going quite good.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I guess if you've got huge.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Groups congregating and punching on with each other, it might
not seem that good to some of the locals.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
That's right. What I can emphasize is our response is strong.
What we're trying to do is adjust it so we
don't have to respond and we can deal with some
of the enablers of these behaviors as well. What we're
saying in the last even since the establishment of a
safe place with Territory Families, we've had fourteen young people
taken to the safe place in our springs and it's
making a difference because it's engaging with parents and they're
(12:22):
aware of the choices that children are making, so it's
hopefully correcting behaviors. They're vulnerable kids who are usually out
of the house for other reasons, usually lead to domestic violence.
What we're also saying is a massive efficiency for our
police officers because we're not driving around for hours on
end trying to take a child to a safe place.
We try a responsible adult first, or a safe place.
(12:43):
If that doesn't exist, case to the Territory Family safe Place,
we do a handover and we get back into doing
police business.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
All right, I want to ask about those changes to
bottleshop opening hours for the top end. How are things
going with that at this point, do you think from
your perspective, yes.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Ask this week, I just asked, how did the first
week go with the two hour the later opening. The
evidence from the patrollers, as they're saying, less social order behaviors,
like any social behaviors in the field. It's probably too
early to say. It'll be evaluated at the end of January,
and that's where we'll have a better collection of information
(13:20):
from the patrollers, the protective customs, feedback from the community,
all those really valuable data sources where we can actually
get a bit of a snapshot over eight weeks. So far,
it looks positive and we'll just have to see and
measure it. And we'll see obviously the other amendments with
the liquor harm reduction, the BDOS, the BDR a higher
(13:41):
visible presence from policing, engaging with the public and addressing
these issues. So the suite of changes will continue to
make a difference.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Are we just tinkering around the edges here? Though?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I mean there has been some sort of some suggestion
that you would like to see people aren't able to
buy alcohol if they don't have a fixed address to
be able to stay.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
And consumers.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, there's a couple of things I've discussed. It's around
what type of items are for sale. So you know
you're eleven hundred and twenty five mil bottles of spirits.
We see that in the field they cause considerable harm
on consumption in public places, more scrutiny around safe places
to drink and people that's a lawful place to consume liquor.
(14:24):
So if people are leaving how they go and drink
in a public park or a public space, we know
we're quite confident that will respond to some type of
incident there later after our call is consumed. So that's
where the proactive stuff is. Through the Territory Safety Coordination
Center to look at the patrol in network, look at
preventative preemptive measures we can do to engage to reduce
(14:46):
those levels of harm, and actually still engage with hospitality
and industry to put better measures in place to help us.
Keeping in mind, like I asked for a lot, it's
a regulated, lo awful business and a business model. So
it's about having those conversations and relationships to say, how
can we do some things to better improve community safety
(15:08):
because liquor is a huge enable for us in harm
in the community.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Well, and I guess and when we look at the
rates of domestic violence as well, like how much of
that domestic violence is happening in public places when people
are consuming alcohol, A great deal.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Of it, most of a of a lot of the
serious violence offenses of homicides, intimate partners, alcohol is involved
in its public places. So it is one of our
you know, what we focus on to try and address
those issues, but not just as a police force, but
a whole of government, even the domestic violence portfolio. And
I don't know how much work Minister Warden did when
(15:45):
she was the police minister because she had the domestic
violence portfolio as well. So that real preemptive you know,
victim survivors and those high harm offenders, because it's usually
we see a high rate of recidivism for people who
commit serious violence. Again, women and children.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I know you are, I know your press for time,
as are we this morning. I've just got a couple
of other things that I do want to ask you about.
I mean, just on that alcohol for an example, you know,
over the weekend a friend of mine who's got a property,
they went out to go and you know, to go
and check on their property out in the Palmerston area.
There's glass, there's things all smashed up around the place.
(16:21):
People out there drinking in that spot. It's not a
public spot, but you know, they're sort of they're on
the footpath drinking in that spot. Asked where they're from,
they said they're from they're visiting from a community. Said well,
where are you staying, Well, we're sort of staying here.
I mean, how do we stop that kind of thing
from happening where people are coming in from town, they're
you know, they're purchasing alcohol, which they're lawfully allowed to do,
(16:43):
but then drinking it in those public or sort of
you know, semi public places, you know, in places like Yarawonga,
on footpaths, running a mark.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And and it just sort of continues to happen.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
So I think what's important is to make sure that
that's reported to us so we can get an idea
of where behaviors are occurring and when. Then there's the
practical element of dispatching patrols or patrollers or larycia to
go and engage with them. What you'll see with the
new amendments in the Liquor Act is if they're drinking
(17:19):
in a public place or a high risk area or
a restricted area, we can add them to the police
officer can add them to a BDO which gets them
on the BDR to seven days. If there's a second occurrence,
it's another seven days, and if it's a third occurrence,
it's three months. So you'll see some more audience on
the BDR into the future and through the automation through
(17:42):
our we're just rolling out the serve Pro system for
the new police system on the twenty seventh November. That's
automating some of those processes for us, and we're trying
to automate some things in the next year as well,
so it's easier for the police force to add people
to limit the access to alcohol. We make cause from it.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Commissioner I am told that that serve Pro system at
the moment, it is quite an arduous sort of situation
right now where it's taking quite some time to process things.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Is that going to get a bit better?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Absolutely? So. Last thing I need is a cop tied
to a desk typing in data. So what we're doing
is centralizing an input area and we'll have some ministry
officers doing the data entry. I just can't afford, Like,
if an officer goes out and deals with ten people
drinking in public places and that says conservatively ten minutes
each that's our and forty minutes of data entry, it's
(18:34):
not acceptable. We need to be doing out the police
work in the field. So we're standing up a team
to support that operation. So we're not doing data entry
until it's all mated, probably you know, early to be
next year.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Well, Police Commissioner, it has been a massive year, you
know for you, I know you've been acting.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
In the role, you know, in that role permanently.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
It's been such a massive year when you look at
twenty twenty four and how are you going to juggle
it all and how are you going to sort of
meet the community's expectations of.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
That management of crime?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And I know it is definitely not just the job
of you as the Police commissioner or the police force.
It is absolutely across the board. But for you and
your role, you know, how are you going to approach
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Well, a couple of things is we have new ideas,
exploring new ideas, listening to the front line, how to
make the difference, listening to the community we're all in
this together, and how we make a difference collectively, our workforce.
It has been a huge year and we will work
continue to work incredibly hard, but we need to explore
new ideas and new ways of doing things and that
real collegiate partnership across government and NGOs to make a
(19:41):
difference to people's lives and drive down crime and basically
protect territory. And so we've got a few challenges ahead.
Were up for it, and I look forward to an
exciting twenty twenty four and I really hope that settles
down a bit.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah, I think we're all hoping exactly the same thing.
And Commissioner, any message for territorians over that Christmas break, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Look all the best for twenty twenty four. It's been
a big year. It's been a tough couple of years.
Be safe, enjoy time with your family and if you're traveling,
take care on the roads. We've already got an unacceptably
high road toll. Take a break, plan your trips where
you see, don't speed, don't drink and drive all those
the common messages, but yeah, look after each other, enjoy
(20:23):
the time with family, and I look forward to our
prosperous twenty.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Twenty four Well, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, we
really appreciate your time this morning. I know it's been
an extensive chat. We appreciate you speaking to us and
all the very best.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I've the Christmas break.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family, and
I hope that all of our Northern Territory Police Force
hopefully things do get a bit calmer. And I really
you know, we thank our whole Northern Territory Police Force
for all of the very hard work that they do.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And don't forget the fire eas yeah services and coming
to the a period of possibly cyclone and luckily enough
Jasper's not coming towards us, so we'll have a bit
of respite there. But the try service works incredibly hard,
so and I appreciate your sentiment and thank you, thanks
so
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Much for your time this morning.
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