By OSCAR PERRI
Assault and domestic violence are rising while car theft has dropped, according to new stats, and police say they need help from the community to improve the numbers.
In Alice Springs, domestic violence related assaults and house break ins have risen dramatically, but motor vehicle thefts have fallen by an even larger proportion, 24% according to police stats for March, compared to the same period in 2020.
Looking further back, in March 2012 there were 557 crime against the person, and this year there were 1997.
That’s a 358% increase, in fact there were fewer crimes of this classification in the whole year. Over the same timeframe crime against property has gone up 311%.
Southern Region Superintendent Tony Deutrom says that police alone are not going to solve these increasing problems, and looks to other agencies and community led programs like the night patrols for help.
“We’ve all got to play a part in this but we need to understand what each other is doing. And clearly with the stats that we’ve got at the moment is work for improvement.
“We need to challenge each other, understand each other’s roles and see if we can contribute and collaborate together to get these offences down.
“Any support we can have from the community is is welcome.”
Superintendent Deutrom says that the domestic violence and assault statistics are alarming, a serious issue in need of addressing at the cause, with a focus on victim support.
“The fact that alcohol continues to contribute to these offences, that means that we need to have a bit more of a deep dive into what’s occurring there.”
Covid-19 support money finishing up in bottle shops made the problems more acute.
“In my time in the Northern Territory that has and continues to be an issue.
“We have to go to the causal factors and that is alcohol.
“An unfortunate truth additional controls need to be considered to reduce these incidents occur.
“When we remove vast amounts of alcohol, we will see a decrease in some of those offences occurring. And that’s plain fact.”
PHOTO: Confiscated booze. INSET Superintendent Tony Deutrom.