Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Nicole Manison, today announced the new Alcohol Policing Unit (APU) is now operational and will tackle alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour and crime head on.
The unit supports the ongoing visible policing and targeted campaigns underway (including a focus on tipping out alcohol and being drunk in public places), and follows yesterdays record $8.9M 5-point plan to tackle Anti-social behaviour in Darwin and Palmerston.
Comprising of 12 police officers (eight based in Darwin and four based in Alice Springs), the APU is part of the 97-member initiative, which includes 75 Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors (in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine), three prosecutors and seven operational support staff.
Through overt and covert operations, the APU will focus on compliance of the Licencing Act and secondary supply.
The Territory Labor Government knows when you limit the abuse of alcohol, you cut down crime. Thats why we are introducing sweeping alcohol reforms, increasing our police resources, putting officers on our bottleshops, and delivering a historic 5-point plan to tackle anti-social behaviour.
A key part of the 5-point plan is the NT Polices ongoing visible presence and targeted campaigns (which includes foot and Segway patrols, mobile caravans, CCTV, marked vans and mounted patrols). Visible policing makes people feel safer and sends a loud message that anti-social behaviour and problem drinking will not be tolerated. Polices ongoing efforts will be supported by four extra Larrakia Day Patrol vehicles and the sobering up shelter increasing to 24-hours a day, announced yesterday by the Territory Government.
Quotes attributed to Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services
Territorians have had a gutful of crime and anti-social behaviour on our streets.
Thats why this Government is doing more than ever to fix the problem in the short term and invest in long-term measures to get people back on the right track.
The Alcohol Policing Unit will complement Labor Governments 5-point Anti-Social Behaviour plan by detecting and deterring breaches of the Licencing Act and secondary supply - this will include covert and overt operations commencing immediately.
This is a warning to those caught selling alcohol illegally, or doing the wrong thing the police are watching and the penalties are severe.
The chaotic CLP government failed to invest in police and failed to implement any plan to fix the alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour on our streets.
We are listening to Territorians and do more than any Territory Government has ever done because thats what people want us to do.
