POLICE have begun a six-month trial of intensive temporary beat locations outside Katherine bottle shops in a bid to reduce the alcohol-fuelled violence and antisocial behaviour plaguing the town.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Chief Minister Adam Giles announced the trial on December 17 and said it would involved seconding 10 additional officers from Darwin on 14-day rotations for six months.
“Temporary beat locations should help police tackle the cause of the trouble, instead of just dealing with the aftermath,” Mr Giles said.
“They’ve already been used on occasion in Katherine over the year with excellent results, but we realise extra officers are needed for the policy to be applied more comprehensively.”
As part of the trial, officers will be stationed outside Katherine’s main bottle shops with the task of identifying people likely to buy and then consume alcohol in a restricted area.
The Northern Territory government did not disclose the cost of the trial but Mr Giles said similar operations in Tennant Creek and Alice Springs had been incredibly successful.
“We want to protect the Katherine community in the same way by employing a similar high-visibility, preventative approach at the town’s main takeaway grog outlets,” he said.
Commander Bruce Porter said the plan was to have the beats operating “every day during the full takeaway operating hours of all licensed premises”, adding that he believed the community would notice a difference in antisocial behaviour.
“It is acknowledged that there will be some consternation from certain quarters within the community with the presence of the temporary beats where persons are approached by police, however, it is considered that this model is an effective tool for the safety of the entire community and we ask that the community supports us in this endeavour,” he said.