Supporting public safety in Alice Springs

A patrol coordinator has been appointed to help improve public safety in Alice Springs, as part of a joint government initiative.

The senior sergeant from the Northern Territory Police will coordinate various patrolling services – including police, non-government and private security services – to make the streets of Alice Springs safer through improved communication and better use of resources.

The NT Police will receive $389,000 from the Alice Springs Transformation Plan to fund the position for two years.

The Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, said the investment is part of the $150 million Alice Springs Transformation Plan, which is working to enhance community safety and wellbeing, particularly in the town camps.

“The safety and security of children and families in Alice Springs is our primary focus,” Ms Macklin said.

“The various patrolling services that operate in Alice Springs remove people at risk from unsafe situations and take them to appropriate support places such as safe houses, sobering-up shelters or medical centres.

“The quality of patrolling services will improve as providers share information, hold joint training sessions, and conduct more focused operational activities.

“I am delighted to see that local police and other agencies are working together to improve public safety through better integration and coordination of services.”

The Northern Territory Minister for Central Australia, Karl Hampton, said the fresh approach will benefit the whole community.

“This new approach will help tackle anti-social behaviour in our town. Through better coordination, providers can forward plan with Police on a daily, weekly and monthly basis,” Mr Hampton said.

“This will help stamp out hot spots while enabling services to work together to increase their efforts during times when the town experiences an influx of visitors, such as during football carnivals or the Alice Springs Show.

“A key part of the new role will be to work with patrolling services to develop training and accreditation programs to support the work of the patrollers.”

“This is an excellent example of how the Australian and Territory Governments are working with the community to make the residents of Alice Springs feel safer,” the Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon said.