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Speaker 1: Let's head on down to Alice Springs because we know

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Speaker 1: that police have now made twenty four arrests since Operation

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Speaker 1: Drina was launched in Alice. The operation saw forty extra

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Speaker 1: police sent to the town last week to curb criminal

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Speaker 1: and anti social behavior. Now, it came after a number

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Speaker 1: of cop cars were rammed by stolen vehicles driven dangerously

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Speaker 1: through the CBD, but the damage to the police cars

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Speaker 1: hasn't ceased, with a forty two year old man allegedly

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Speaker 1: reversing into one while intoxicated. Now, officers say that they've

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Speaker 1: taken one hundred and sixty eight people into protective custody,

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Speaker 1: They've destroyed two hundred and twenty nine liters of grog

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Speaker 1: and issued twenty nine traffic fines in the last six days.

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Speaker 1: Those numbers are astonishing. Joining us on the line to

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Speaker 1: provide a bit of an update on how the community's

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Speaker 1: feeling is the Alice Springs Mayor Matt Patterson, Good morning, Matt.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. Thanks for having me Matt.

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Speaker 1: How have things been going since that police surge and

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Speaker 1: the operation got underway.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think the numbers tell the story, Katie, and

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Speaker 2: obviously more police on the ground, people do feel safer.

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Speaker 2: There is a visual presence. I'm not saying that crime

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Speaker 2: has fully disappeared, but it's at a much lower rate

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Speaker 2: and it is very welcomed by the community.

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Speaker 1: Now, what a local saying to you at this point,

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Speaker 1: as you know, those numbers start to flow through and

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Speaker 1: presumably you see less of that anti social behavior on

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Speaker 1: the streets.

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Speaker 2: Well, I mean they're saying a lot of things. One

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Speaker 2: is you know better than ever, but the second one

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Speaker 2: is please don't take them away? Is the other part?

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Speaker 2: You know, it is the immediate circuit, Baker, that we've

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Speaker 2: been asking for for a long time. We absolutely welcome

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Speaker 2: it as a community, but you know, we need as

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Speaker 2: many resources as we can possibly have down here because

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Speaker 2: of what we've been going through, and so forty extra

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Speaker 2: police is very welcoming, but we just don't want them

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Speaker 2: to go away, you know, pre summer. We need these

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Speaker 2: the boots on the ground till April or May to

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Speaker 2: get us through this rough period that we go through

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Speaker 2: every year.

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Speaker 1: Are you concerned about what's going to happen over that

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Speaker 1: Christmas break, that summer period?

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Speaker 2: Very very concerned. I mean we usually have a let

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Speaker 2: up in the call of months, but we haven't had

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Speaker 2: a lead up at all this year, and so you know,

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Speaker 2: we've seen like I was driving around Friday night having

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Speaker 2: a look and the presence of police was everywhere. We've

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Speaker 2: seen them back on the horses, that mounted police are here,

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Speaker 2: that are on their motorbikes. It is fantastic to see.

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Speaker 2: And you know, you go elsewhere, there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: place and it's that perception of if you can see

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Speaker 2: a police officer, usually feel safer. At the moment. That

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Speaker 2: is the case, and as I said, it is very

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Speaker 2: welcoming in the community. We just don't want it to

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Speaker 2: be and we don't want them to go.

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Speaker 1: Matt. Where are things that with sort with the Social

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Speaker 1: Order Response Team? And I know that there's been some

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Speaker 1: work happening with the government as well to sort of

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Speaker 1: determine where young people who don't have somewhere safe to

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Speaker 1: go at night would be able to go. Is there

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Speaker 1: much movement on those on those initiatives.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So we've got a short meeting today, Katie, and

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Speaker 2: hopefully we'll get an update there. I mean, that is

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Speaker 2: to my knowledge that's sitting with the government and the

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Speaker 2: Attorney General to move so to move on that, and

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Speaker 2: you know, we need that set up sooner rather than

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Speaker 2: later as the shorter term stuff. But yeah, shorts today

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Speaker 2: and so you know, hopefully we're getting the resources in

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Speaker 2: the right area. We've got the patrollers group set up,

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Speaker 2: we're having a go at, you know, getting the lights moving.

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Speaker 2: So you know, there are a lot of challenges. I

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Speaker 2: don't think anyone or said that's going to be a

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Speaker 2: quick fix. But the immediate surfuit breaker that we've been

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Speaker 2: king for a long time is resources on the ground

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Speaker 2: and police are here and we have seen a drastic

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Speaker 2: difference in behavior and in crime. So you know, I

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Speaker 2: think that the stats, the stats that you've said right

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Speaker 2: in with the with the less vandalism and less crime

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Speaker 2: that's going on Wheat means that we need more resources

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Speaker 2: than our springs.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Matt, just a very quick one. We know that

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Speaker 1: last night in Parliament the raising of the criminal age,

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Speaker 1: that legislation went through. What's the feeling in Alice Springs

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Speaker 1: about this and do people sort of have strong opinions

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Speaker 1: on the raising of the age?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, sort of like reading the room

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Speaker 2: a little bit. It's probably I would say, the wrong

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Speaker 2: time to bring it up. I balance that Katie by

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Speaker 2: saying that I don't think anyone wants to see ten

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Speaker 2: or twelve year olds in jail, but lifting the age

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Speaker 2: is not making people feel safe when they go to bed.

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Speaker 2: There's got to be other measures in the background that

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Speaker 2: is happening. So, yeah, it hasn't been received well down here.

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Speaker 2: I wouldn't have thought by everyone, but there are certain

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Speaker 2: obviously people in the social services sector that are that

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Speaker 2: are appreciative of it. But I just think for me,

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Speaker 2: it's the timing and the perception of what is Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's it's not fantastic, but you know, all in all,

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Speaker 2: if these kids can get in services quicker, then you

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Speaker 2: know they're not going to be committing crimes and that's okay.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, it's a difficult to balance.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is certainly incredibly difficult to balance at this

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Speaker 1: point in time. You know, the community's expectation is probably

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Speaker 1: pretty different to what the government's done here. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if the two things are in step, but I'm

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Speaker 1: sure that our listeners will let us know. Matt Patterson

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Speaker 1: always good to catch up with you, appreciate your time

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Speaker 1: this morning, and good to hear that this additional police

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Speaker 1: presence is having a real impact it is.

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Speaker 2: Don't let them take them away from us, please, well, Meg,

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Speaker 2: borrel and steel, that's all we need them, We need

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Speaker 2: to keep them. Please.

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Speaker 1: Well, it is a tough one and we are going

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Speaker 1: to catch up with the Police Association about this as well,

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Speaker 1: because it sounds as that they've had to take those

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Speaker 1: police from different communities and other areas as well, so

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Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to hear what hack that is having.

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Speaker 2: I know, but I'm not the mayor of other communities.

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Speaker 2: I just want my community to be safe first and foremost.

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Speaker 2: At the moment. I appreciate it as part of a

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Speaker 2: bigger picture. But you know, we've been going through through

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Speaker 2: this for so so long that finally we've had a

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Speaker 2: let up, and you know, everyone knows that when they've

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Speaker 2: taken away, it's going to be this cycle of back

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Speaker 2: to what it was. So the longer they stay here,

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Speaker 2: the better it is for my community.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Matt Patterson, the mayor of Alice, good to

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Speaker 1: speak with you this morning. Thanks so much for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you