1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,520
Speaker 1: Matt Hepworth's filling in for Caddie Wolf this morning. Well,

2
00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,800
Speaker 1: on Friday, the latest Northern Territory crime statistics were released.

3
00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:08,280
Speaker 1: To talk us through the numbers, is Northern Territory Police

4
00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 1: Commander Matt Hollandby Matt.

5
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,479
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Matt, and good morning to your listeners. Matt.

6
00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,960
Speaker 1: Before we get into the numbers, can you tell us

7
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,720
Speaker 1: what period these latest statistics are for.

8
00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,239
Speaker 3: Yeah, Matt, the current statistics are for the period of

9
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:27,080
Speaker 3: May March, sorry, first of April twenty twenty through to

10
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,600
Speaker 3: the end of March twenty twenty one. So essentially that's

11
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,239
Speaker 3: the pandemic period, and we are comparing that with the

12
00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,920
Speaker 3: twelve months before the pandemic. So yeah, it's sort of

13
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,839
Speaker 3: a reflection of what happened, and what's really going to

14
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:43,760
Speaker 3: be interesting is what happens in the next twelve months.

15
00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,120
Speaker 3: So in May twenty twenty two, when we were having

16
00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,839
Speaker 3: this same conversation, we'll be saying, well, you know, this

17
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,360
Speaker 3: is what's happened since the pandemic.

18
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:53,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, it certainly will be a reflection as to how

19
00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,920
Speaker 1: our lives have changed. And we're looking at the pandemic

20
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,400
Speaker 1: twelve months ago. Here we are now, and then what's

21
00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,320
Speaker 1: going to change over the next twelve months. I guess

22
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,160
Speaker 1: we'll be able to reflect on in twelve months time.

23
00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, and I think at some point in the

24
00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 3: years to come somebody will do a thesis on this

25
00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,600
Speaker 3: at university just to say what happened and how it

26
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,360
Speaker 3: affected the social structure of our community.

27
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,080
Speaker 1: Looking at these statistics from Friday, here's there's been a

28
00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,720
Speaker 1: steady increase across the Northern Territory and crime against the person,

29
00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,160
Speaker 1: but a decrease in crime against property. Can you talk

30
00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: us through some of those numbers.

31
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:32,199
Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, across the Northern Territory, property crime is down

32
00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,720
Speaker 3: in most major centers and assaults are up and that

33
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:41,000
Speaker 3: you know, there's obviously variations between that. In Darwin, which

34
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,160
Speaker 3: is Darwin and the northern suburbs, the total number of

35
00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:48,720
Speaker 3: property fences is down by twenty two percent and that's

36
00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,440
Speaker 3: the lowest twelve month period numbers recorded since in the

37
00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:56,480
Speaker 3: last twenty years. So you know, we had a period

38
00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,840
Speaker 3: during the pandemic for six months where there was little

39
00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:03,120
Speaker 3: to no crime at all. Obviously it has it's gone

40
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:09,320
Speaker 3: up since since September last year, so you know, remarkable

41
00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,840
Speaker 3: lows in property crime Palmsten total property offenses are down

42
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,160
Speaker 3: by twenty six percent as well, so on the property front,

43
00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,680
Speaker 3: really really good news. But bearing in mind that it

44
00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,760
Speaker 3: does include that six month period where there was lockdowns

45
00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,239
Speaker 3: and that was very very little to no crime.

46
00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:27,000
Speaker 2: Yeah.

47
00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:29,920
Speaker 1: On the other hand, unfortunately, though, during that same period,

48
00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,200
Speaker 1: crimes against the person increase.

49
00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:38,079
Speaker 3: Yeah, they did quite dramatically and very sadly. That included

50
00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:44,640
Speaker 3: domestic violence and alcohol fuel domestic violence. You know, we've

51
00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,160
Speaker 3: certainly got our work cut out for us in terms of,

52
00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,680
Speaker 3: you know, some our alcohol policy and you know, pretty

53
00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,680
Speaker 3: sad when somebody thinks it's okay to assault a family member.

54
00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,320
Speaker 3: So from our perspective, we have a very pro prosecution

55
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,720
Speaker 3: approach domestic violence. And if you think it's okay to

56
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,440
Speaker 3: assault your family a family member, we think differently and

57
00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:09,680
Speaker 3: we will prosecute you for it.

58
00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,600
Speaker 1: Could some of those increases when we talk about domestic

59
00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,320
Speaker 1: violence increases also be related to the lockdown, The fact

60
00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,680
Speaker 1: that we see crime against property eat down, the fact

61
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,040
Speaker 1: that people obviously weren't out in the community so much

62
00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,520
Speaker 1: anymore committing property crimes, but sadly it was happening within

63
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,399
Speaker 1: our own four walls in lockdown.

64
00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, and there was a lot of things that

65
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,079
Speaker 3: were different during that lockdown period. You know, there was

66
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,839
Speaker 3: a lockdown, so more people were at home, and also

67
00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,680
Speaker 3: there was job caeper job seeper seeker, the stress of

68
00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,000
Speaker 3: being unemployed. You know, there's a lot of different factors

69
00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,680
Speaker 3: that would have contributed to that. But at the end

70
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,160
Speaker 3: of the day, it's not acceptable and you know, we

71
00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:54,520
Speaker 3: will work with our partners to intervene and reduce the

72
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:56,560
Speaker 3: assault rates into the future.

73
00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:59,040
Speaker 1: We saw a report probably about a month or so

74
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,040
Speaker 1: ago now from Matt Cunningham and the NT News and

75
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,480
Speaker 1: he'd done some research looking into the effects that COVID

76
00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,920
Speaker 1: payments have had, particularly in Central Australia as well, and

77
00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,320
Speaker 1: some of the damage that was doing in the communities.

78
00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,360
Speaker 1: Do these latest crime statistics support that as well.

79
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,440
Speaker 2: Look, I think it's a part of it definitely.

80
00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,880
Speaker 3: You know, it was a high stress time for everyone,

81
00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,039
Speaker 3: you know, the lockdown, not knowing what the future is

82
00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,920
Speaker 3: going to hold for us. I think one of the

83
00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,680
Speaker 3: really really disturbing things is we we know there's a

84
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,000
Speaker 3: link between property crime and violent crime. All of our

85
00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,000
Speaker 3: high end recidivivus youth offenders are all the products of

86
00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,440
Speaker 3: been exposed to domestic violence from a very very early age.

87
00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,440
Speaker 3: So I mean it's you know, it might not necessarily

88
00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,960
Speaker 3: be the demographic of your listeners, but you know there

89
00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,880
Speaker 3: is a there is a tangible link there. So which

90
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,000
Speaker 3: is which is really sad that kids aren't brought up

91
00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,200
Speaker 3: in a in a loving family environment and they go

92
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,760
Speaker 3: on to commit properly crimes.

93
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:02,160
Speaker 2: Yeah.

94
00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,960
Speaker 1: I think I heard put quite simply by a commentator recently.

95
00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,279
Speaker 1: They said, you know, it's something obviously fundamentally wrong at home.

96
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:09,800
Speaker 1: If you've got ten year olds on the street at

97
00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:12,359
Speaker 1: two am and they think that is a safer and

98
00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,360
Speaker 1: a better place for them to be, there's obviously something

99
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:16,840
Speaker 1: quite broken at home.

100
00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,359
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. And look, you know we are products of

101
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:19,960
Speaker 2: our environment.

102
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,279
Speaker 3: I mean, if you think about your life, you have

103
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,560
Speaker 3: those really annoying traits that your parents had.

104
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:27,120
Speaker 2: I know I have.

105
00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,279
Speaker 3: But you know, if you're raised in a horrible environment

106
00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,800
Speaker 3: and you have those traits of your mother or your

107
00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,640
Speaker 3: father or your guardian, generational, it's a generational thing. I

108
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:45,000
Speaker 3: think somebody described it as genetic pain. But so you know,

109
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,560
Speaker 3: there is a need for early intervention as well.

110
00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, there has been some high presence police operations in

111
00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,280
Speaker 1: Darwin over the last few months. My mind comes back

112
00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,839
Speaker 1: to that school holiday blitz around Casurina. Has this helped

113
00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,360
Speaker 1: reduce crime? When we're looking at the statistics, has there

114
00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:02,400
Speaker 1: been an increase due to the fact that there's actually

115
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,560
Speaker 1: more arrests as a result of some of these operations.

116
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:11,200
Speaker 3: Look, our job is to identify crime trends and intervene

117
00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,159
Speaker 3: at an early stage. We're talking about hot spots resided

118
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,520
Speaker 3: as defenders crime series. So what we do is we

119
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,320
Speaker 3: try to identify these issues as early as we can

120
00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:29,200
Speaker 3: and take a positive intervention to reduce them. The Casuarina

121
00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:33,240
Speaker 3: Square Casina Village operation that it started out as a

122
00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:37,960
Speaker 3: series of shopliftings from bottle shops and some were youth,

123
00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:44,000
Speaker 3: some weren't, and when security challenged the person's shoplifting, there

124
00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,279
Speaker 3: was a violent reaction. So you know, what turned from

125
00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,560
Speaker 3: a shoplifting could ultimately turn into a robbery. So there

126
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,280
Speaker 3: was a series within a very few days and we

127
00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,200
Speaker 3: implemented an operation and arrested quite a few people for

128
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,160
Speaker 3: those types of fences. We discovered some medio social behavior

129
00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,880
Speaker 3: issues which were consequential and dealt with those as well.

130
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,680
Speaker 3: So that particular issue has about it for now, but

131
00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:13,200
Speaker 3: it's one of those things that we just can't take

132
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:13,920
Speaker 3: our eye off the ball.

133
00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,680
Speaker 1: Yeah. More recently, Matt, there was a story in the

134
00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,440
Speaker 1: Ant News over the weekend about Basing the Grass festival

135
00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,040
Speaker 1: goers ditching drugs due to the sniffer dogs that were there.

136
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:24,440
Speaker 1: Can you tell us what happened there?

137
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was kind of funny, but.

138
00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,680
Speaker 3: People who were entering Base in the Grass, there were

139
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,120
Speaker 3: a couple of places where there was a drug dog

140
00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,080
Speaker 3: screening people coming in. The drug dog did find detect

141
00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,680
Speaker 3: made a number of detections, but you know, there were

142
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,280
Speaker 3: a number of people that had drugs that threw them

143
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,240
Speaker 3: onto the ground just as they were queuing up and yeah,

144
00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,960
Speaker 3: so they was kindly placed them there where we could

145
00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:53,280
Speaker 3: see them, and we went and picked them up.

146
00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:55,720
Speaker 1: Were able to link it back to anyone at all?

147
00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,080
Speaker 1: Or was it just that they found them on the

148
00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,080
Speaker 1: ground because they ditched them so they couldn't be linked

149
00:07:59,080 --> 00:07:59,480
Speaker 1: back to them.

150
00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously they didn't want to say, to be introduced

151
00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,920
Speaker 3: to the drug detected dogs and discarded their drugs. So,

152
00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,640
Speaker 3: you know, drugs, these types of drugs are not made

153
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,200
Speaker 3: by chemists, they're not made in sanitary conditions. You really

154
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,720
Speaker 3: really don't know what's in them, so we urge you

155
00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,040
Speaker 3: not to take them because you know, we've seen the

156
00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,640
Speaker 3: results at other festivals inter state where there's been mass

157
00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,440
Speaker 3: overdoses and mass and in the worst case scenario, a

158
00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:31,520
Speaker 3: number of deaths as well.

159
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, just moving on to another issue, mat there was

160
00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,760
Speaker 1: reports of a lot of alcohol related antisocial behavior at

161
00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:41,240
Speaker 1: mindele Beach. Has that calmed down since that alcohol ban

162
00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:42,080
Speaker 1: was put in place?

163
00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, we worked with counsel and OURCA nation on

164
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:46,520
Speaker 3: that particular issue.

165
00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:47,800
Speaker 2: There was there was a large.

166
00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:52,839
Speaker 3: Number of people in town from outside, from remote areas

167
00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:58,280
Speaker 3: and that seemed to be a congregation place. There were

168
00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,840
Speaker 3: some really distinct being any social behavior there. So the

169
00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:07,600
Speaker 3: Darwin Police Station implemented an operation using our partners and

170
00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:12,320
Speaker 3: targeted it quite strongly for a couple of weeks, and

171
00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,040
Speaker 3: a part of that was the council were working with us.

172
00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,840
Speaker 3: We wrote a letter to the council asking for alcohol

173
00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,640
Speaker 3: to be restricted there and it has come down quite

174
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:23,600
Speaker 3: substantially since then.

175
00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,520
Speaker 1: Were there any arrests or charges later as a result

176
00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,120
Speaker 1: of some of that behavior that was going on there?

177
00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:30,840
Speaker 2: There was I don't have details in front of me.

178
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,800
Speaker 3: But you know, we're talking up to two hundred people

179
00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,160
Speaker 3: congregating there and drinking and carrying on, and it got

180
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,920
Speaker 3: a little bit untidy. But again it was about early

181
00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,800
Speaker 3: intervention and using a partnership approach, which is what we

182
00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:46,839
Speaker 3: did to tidy it up.

183
00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,480
Speaker 1: There was fears that that behavior could be just moved elsewhere.

184
00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:51,600
Speaker 1: Has that been the case at all?

185
00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:53,840
Speaker 3: Look, I don't think so. I think some of it,

186
00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,480
Speaker 3: A small amount of it may have. But a lot

187
00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,640
Speaker 3: of the people from out of town, we were repatriated through

188
00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,199
Speaker 3: Larkia Nation to their home community, So that was a

189
00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:04,960
Speaker 3: positive outcome.

190
00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,319
Speaker 1: To Comander Matt hollanb be just before you go, is

191
00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,319
Speaker 1: there anything else we should know about or any major

192
00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:11,320
Speaker 1: police operations coming up?

193
00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,160
Speaker 3: Look, it was road Safety Week last week. Obviously it

194
00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:19,199
Speaker 3: didn't start out well, but you know, and my condolences

195
00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:24,000
Speaker 3: to the family of the lady that died. You know,

196
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,240
Speaker 3: it's coming up to the tourist season, so just be

197
00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:28,080
Speaker 3: careful on the roads.

198
00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've heard reports that we've got caravan parks that

199
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,480
Speaker 1: are completely booked out. A lot of tourists in town

200
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,880
Speaker 1: hard to get a rental car around the city at

201
00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,160
Speaker 1: the moment. So yeah, it sounds like I've heard reports.

202
00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,000
Speaker 1: I know you're a long term territory and this is

203
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,000
Speaker 1: the busiest we've seen the probably Darwin and the Territory

204
00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,520
Speaker 1: for our tourist season since twenty twelve. Would you agree with.

205
00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,120
Speaker 2: That sentiment, Yeah, I think so.

206
00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,360
Speaker 3: I mean, like I've done a lot of time in

207
00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,559
Speaker 3: Catherine and I know some of their caravan parks have

208
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,959
Speaker 3: booked out years in advance, but at key times.

209
00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,560
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, it's it's.

210
00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,880
Speaker 3: Like the Base in the Grass and the other concert

211
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:09,840
Speaker 3: before that. They show that you can have a concert

212
00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,959
Speaker 3: type scenario where there's little to no trouble. So that's

213
00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,280
Speaker 3: you know, it's a really positive thing, and we hope

214
00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,800
Speaker 3: for the other major events coming up, you know Vo

215
00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,200
Speaker 3: Supercars and you know the Darwin Cup, they are equally

216
00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:24,400
Speaker 3: as well behaved.

217
00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:25,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's encouraging to see.

218
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:26,440
Speaker 2: It's a good thing.

219
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,240
Speaker 1: Northern Territory Police Commander Matt Hollandby will have to leave

220
00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:30,760
Speaker 1: it there. Thank you so much for your time this morning.

221
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:31,680
Speaker 2: Always a pleasure, mate,