A security video, taken from a Katherine East home, was supplied to the Katherine Times to show how the mainly Indigenous youth “case” their premises before they strike.

Katherine MP Sandra Nelson this week “rode” with the police on a night shift to see at first hand the problems they are confronted with.

Ms Nelson says the fears of a town caught in the grip of a crime wave were overblown, spurred by hysterical talk on social media.

Police point to the lowest crime statistics recorded in Katherine for five years, largely as a result of the arrival of Temporary Beat Locations.

Katherine Senior Citizens spoke at their meeting today about a rise in petty crime in the town, particularly house break and enters.

Sen.-Constable Dani Mattiuzzo sought to reassure the seniors saying crime was no worse in Katherine as it was in other areas.

“There have been a spate of burglaries,” she was told.

“Lots of attempts are being made to break in to people’s homes,” a senior said.

Sen.-Constable Mattiuzzo said residents should report all crime to police so police could focus their attention of crime “hot spots”.

Seniors said it was difficult to use police emergency telephone numbers which were often re-routed through Darwin or offshore.

Sen.-Constable Mattiuzzo provided seniors with information on how to better secure their homes and warned them from taking action themselves.

“If you hear an intruder in your house, do not approach them, that’s where most injuries happen,” she said.

She said Katherine had about 2000 younger citizens and only a tiny number were making trouble.

She also warned about getting “caught up” in the hysteria often sparked by social media posts.

Another senior said young people were being allowed to steal at will from local supermarket Woolworths which he said had budgeted for $500,000 annually for its losses, both from outright theft and deliberate misuse of self-scanners

A Woolworths spokesman told Katherine Times the supermarket would not reveal what measures it had in place to reduce crime.

“The vast majority of our customers do the right thing across our network of stores. For instances where this is not the case, Woolworths has a range of measures in place to prevent stock loss,” a spokesman said.

The Katherine senior said many people had observed blatant thieving from the store, and not just among Indigenous shoppers.

“It is encouraging criminality,” the policewoman was told.

“Most times you will find they are stealing because they are hungry, it is a social problem,” Sen.-Constable Mattiuzzo said.

Ms Nelson said a recent survey in Katherine found 42 per cent of people said they did not report crimes.

“Some people are making comments about high crime rates here which I don’t think are true,” she said.