Youth crime: More meetings

By ERWIN CHLANDA

To get a handle on the town’s catastrophic crime wave the NT Government is putting its money on more police, which for years has failed to get under control what can fairly be described as a bunch of naughty kids, and secondly, on the Federal Government, over which the NT has no control.

This is despite some clever moves proposed to Canberra by the NT, such as making welfare payments on days when take-away booze is not sold and royalties are paid in bush communities, not in Alice Springs.

Chief Minister and Police Minister Lia Finocchiaro and her Police Commissioner rushed into town after the bashing of a two months old baby by an alleged juvenile home invader.

The Alice Springs News spoke with MLA for Namatjira Bill Yan about issues emerging from these and other latest developments.

NEWS: Should there be more curfews?

YAN: It’s up to the police to enact them. It can only do so, under the Police Administration Legislation Amendment Act 2024, “if a situation arises where a curfew is the responsible course of action”.

It can remain in place only for a maximum of three days, “with the option to extend to a maximum of seven days if approved by the Minister for Police” – Ms Finocchiaro.

The trigger is also whether “public disorder” is taking place, which means “a series of riots or civil disturbances, whether at a single location or at different locations, that gives rise to a serious risk to public safety”.

Mr Yan says all this makes a curfew an awkward measure.

Will support from interstate police forces be sought?

“Everything is on the table,” says Mr Yan. “There is an agreement for support between the commissioners of states and territories including – I think  the Federal Police.

“The Commissioner is aware of that. But he says at the moment he has the resources to deal with what is going on in Alice Springs.”

The Holtze Youth Detention Centre is for young people from across the Northern Territory who are remanded or sentenced to detention.

Is being 1500 km away in Darwin not contrary to the commonly held view that close contact with the family is important for rehabilitation?

“I’ll be up front, and this is really sad,” says Mr Yan.

“A lot of these kids who end up in youth detention, very very rarely do they receive visits from their families. It’s the exception rather than the rule, which is unfortunate.

“Built on a therapeutic model, I believe, Holtze has the ability to deliver programs far better up there than it would have been in here in Central Australia.

“The family very rarely go and visit them, which is very sad,” say Mr Yan, who has a solid background of the issues as the General Manager of the Alice Springs Correctional Centre before entering politics.

He says video links to bush communities are used frequently to bring incarcerated kids together with their parents.

A similar problem exists when offending kids are apprehended by police, and possibly charged, but no “responsible adult” can be found to return them to.

“All too often police spend hours and hours wandering around trying to find an allegedly responsible adult to look after that child,” says Mr Yan.

The answer: Hand balling the problem to the Department of Children and Families under the Circuit Breaker program, providing a safe place for that child over night and in daytime making contact with the families, checking “why the child was out on the streets and not being cared for”.

This frees up police resources, while begging this question: Could the government run a home for kids providing accommodation, food, school attendance, homework, sport, entertainment, coupled with cast-iron dusk to dawn curfew – doors locked? Could that be a way of using police assets preventing crimes instead of investigating them?

“Certain parts of our community would probably support that but it comes down to resources,” says Mr Yan.

“I don’t think the facility you’re talking about really exists in Central Australia at the moment. The services to run it would be difficult. That’s something for the future.”

Talking about assets, is the old police station in Parsons Street empty and if so, for how long has that been the case?

“I believe it has been used for a lot of different things, as a shelter, for example,” says Mr Yan.

“Some parts are still being used by the police. I’ve looked at that facility for all sorts of ideas.

“Outside it looks nice but there are issues inside … electrical and plumbing.”

That’s where a home for kids could go, couldn’t it?

“Yes, you could put it there. There are probably some other assets floating around that could be considered.

“When I was with Corrections I looked at that for all sorts of different things. It will be on my radar at some stage.”

It’s understood that there are some 15 police constables, highly armed, positioned at bottle shops. Should the responsibility for lawful trading in alcohol not sit with the traders instead of the taxpayers?

YAN: “We know that having a police officer in uniform at a bottle shop makes a marked difference in what happens.

“When we took them off, seven or eight years ago, there we all sorts of anti-social issues.

“Most retailers also have security guards. Police are making sure people going into bottle shops are not from a prescribed area.”

The substance of Ms Finocchiaro’s visit was thin: “After setting in place two highly visible and targeted policing campaigns, and meeting with the heads of every government agency about on-the-ground action, I participated in the nightly patrollers’ meeting, spoke with police drone pilots in action, and visited supported bail accommodation,” she said in a media release.

“Over the past two days we’ve identified several critical areas that require Federal Government attention: Centrelink payments to be made on current takeaway alcohol-free days only; reintroduce compulsory work or training programs with fortnightly reporting obligations for Centrelink recipients; conduct a performance audit of federally funded programs; insure royalty distributions are made in communities, not in Alice Springs; extend CASA exemption for Alice Springs Police drone pilots to improve drone capability; implement 100% income management for parents of youth offenders; accept the Northern Territory Government’s referral to the Federal Government for parents who neglect their children, enabling additional income management.”

PHOTO at top: Member for Namatjira Bill Yan (3rd from right) and from left, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Member for Braitling Joshua Burgoyne, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, Mr Yan, Acting Police Commissioner Martin Dole and Assistant Commissioner Peter Kennon. (Supplied.)

UPDATE 19/12/24

Minister for Corrections Gerard Maley said in a media release prisoner numbers have climbed to 2,497.

The government’s plan to deal with this includes: Capacity for 200 male prisoners at Berrimah by March; repurposing of the Alice Springs youth detention facility into a women’s prison; 130 beds for male prisoners will become available at Alice Springs Correctional Centre once the 96-bed modular sector is operational and the female sector is relocated; developing two new work camps in Darwin (150 beds) and Katherine (50 beds); construction of a new 150-bed multi-classification women’s prison at Holtze by September 2028; new youth justice boot camp and bail facilities in Katherine and Tennant Creek; Alice Springs Paperbark facility repurposed for up to 16-bed youth boot camp and bail facility.