Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Commander Matt Hollamby about the situation with closures at the Palmerston Watch House

Transcript

Katie spoke with Commander Matt Hollamby about the situation with closures at the Palmerston Watch House · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: You are listening to Mix one O four point nine
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  Speaker 1: and it's just on nine thirty. Now. If you're listening
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  Speaker 1: to the show yesterday, well you would have been a
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  Speaker 1: bit concern to hear that the President of the Police Association,
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  Speaker 1: Paul McHugh said that there had been occasions over the
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  Speaker 1: last week or so when the Palmerston Watchhouse had been
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  Speaker 1: closed due to a lack of resourcing. Now I will
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  Speaker 1: just play a bit of that audio for you if
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  Speaker 1: you miss the show yesterday. Sources have told us that
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  Speaker 1: there has been issues with manning the watchouse out in Palmerston.
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  Speaker 1: Have we got enough police? How are things going?
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  Speaker 2: We don't have enough people to do the job. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about the additional workload of COVID that's had
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  Speaker 2: a massive increase to the workload of our officers and
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  Speaker 2: that is definitely having an impact. Yet we don't seem
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  Speaker 2: to see the same concern from government around the fact
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  Speaker 2: that they don't believe there's enough, so they keep saying
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  Speaker 2: we've got more than enough.
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  Speaker 1: Paul. Is the Palmerston Police Station watchhouse operating as normal?
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  Speaker 2: I believe it is at the moment. I believe there's
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  Speaker 2: been occasions over the last week or so where they've
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  Speaker 2: had to close that watchhouse because of lack of staffing.
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  Speaker 2: It could be through illness, it could be through simply
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  Speaker 2: not having enough to do the job, and that to
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  Speaker 2: major concern for us when you look at what's coming
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  Speaker 2: in the next of us six to twelve months with COVID.
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  Speaker 1: So we have had a situation or we've had occasions
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  Speaker 1: over the last week or so where the Palmerston Watchhouse
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  Speaker 1: has not been operational.
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  Speaker 2: That's correct. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio to tell us more
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  Speaker 1: about the situation is the commander of the Darwin Region,
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  Speaker 1: Matt HOLLANDB. Good morning to you, Matt.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Good morning, Kadian, Good morning to your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Matt. Have we got a situation here where the Palmerston
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  Speaker 1: Watchhouse has had to be closed at different times due
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  Speaker 1: to a lack of staffing.
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  Speaker 3: Look, Katie, we did close it on two occasions that
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  Speaker 3: I can remember in the last week or two. We
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  Speaker 3: make decisions about resource deployments and resource allocation every day,
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  Speaker 3: and obviously we rostered people to work in the watchhouse
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  Speaker 3: on those On the particular day that Paul was referring to,
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  Speaker 3: a member booked off sick. But the Darwin Watchhouse we
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  Speaker 3: had two people in custody, and the Palmerston Watchhouse we
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  Speaker 3: had no people in custody, so you know, we had
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  Speaker 3: we had options. We we could have taken a patrol
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  Speaker 3: off the road to staff an empty watchhouse. We could
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  Speaker 3: have called a member on duty to work at an
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  Speaker 3: empty watchhouse, or we could have closed one hot watchhouse
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  Speaker 3: and redeployed the two people two remaining people in the
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  Speaker 3: watchhouse to operational duty. So it was a non peak time.
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  Speaker 3: We wouldn't do that overnight. It was a day shift.
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  Speaker 3: There was no people to supervise, so it was it
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  Speaker 3: was a logical rational resource allocation decision.
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  Speaker 1: Does it show a lack of resilience within our system
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  Speaker 1: if we have one person call in sick and you've
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  Speaker 1: got to close the watchhouse?
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  Speaker 3: People booking off sick in the watchhouse is not It's
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  Speaker 3: not an everyday occurrence, so we don't roster a redundancy
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  Speaker 3: for that purpose. But having said that, we do have
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  Speaker 3: the ability to redeploy people from other areas. And as
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  Speaker 3: I say, on this particular day there was nobody to supervise.
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  Speaker 3: It's a bit like having a hospital with no patience.
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  Speaker 3: So on that particular shift, we actually put another patrol
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  Speaker 3: on the road because we were able to do that
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  Speaker 3: with because there was nobody's supervised in that watchhouse.
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  Speaker 1: So in your opinion, I guess as the commander of
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  Speaker 1: the Darwin Region, you saw that as being a better
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  Speaker 1: use of those police resources to make sure that you've
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  Speaker 1: got people out on the road rather than having someone
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  Speaker 1: sit there when there's no one in the watchhouse. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: And look, we have finite resources and we have an
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  Speaker 3: obligation to the community to deploy them the best way
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  Speaker 3: we can, and that was a good resource deployment on
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  Speaker 3: that shift. Bearing in mind that there was nobody in
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  Speaker 3: there and it was a non peak time.
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  Speaker 1: There will certainly be some people listening thinking, gee have
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  Speaker 1: we got you know, like, is our Are we so
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  Speaker 1: understaffed within the police at the moment that we can't
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  Speaker 1: sort of call somebody else in to man the watchhouse?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah? Look, you know, over time, you know, we have
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  Speaker 3: a responsibility of the community to spend our money properly,
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  Speaker 3: and so you know, calling out somebody on overtime to
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  Speaker 3: to supervise an empty watchhouse wasn't the good would not
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  Speaker 3: have been a good decision. So there was people available,
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  Speaker 3: we just would have had to have redeployed them from
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  Speaker 3: other duties. And at the time, you know, weighing up
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  Speaker 3: the assessing the risks, the best option was to close
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  Speaker 3: the watchhouse for that shift.
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  Speaker 1: So to anybody out there listening in the community this morning,
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  Speaker 1: who's maybe thinking, you know, this isn't ideal or have
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  Speaker 1: we got a lack of police, what is your message
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  Speaker 1: to them?
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  Speaker 3: Look, it's not perfect, but again, we were here to
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  Speaker 3: protect the community, serve and protect the community, and on
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  Speaker 3: this particular shift we did that better than we would
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  Speaker 3: have ordinarily done it because we were able to put
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  Speaker 3: another patrol on the road.
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  Speaker 1: Is it something that happens regularly in terms.
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  Speaker 3: Of closing the watchhouse, No, no, it is fairly unusual.
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  Speaker 3: We'd never do it overnight on a night shift, which
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  Speaker 3: is our peak peak business time. But on this particular day,
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  Speaker 3: and there's actually two days that we've done on those
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  Speaker 3: particular days, there was there was not the need for
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  Speaker 3: the demand for custody or services. So you know, it
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  Speaker 3: was a good decision.
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  Speaker 1: So from your perspective, no cause.
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  Speaker 3: For alarm, No, not in terms of the watch house. No,
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  Speaker 3: it's an operational decision. And as I say, we make
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  Speaker 3: lots and lots of decisions every day on what people
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  Speaker 3: will be doing and where they will be working.
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  Speaker 1: I guess more broadly, you know, Paul McHugh had said
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  Speaker 1: to us that you know that obviously that was one
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  Speaker 1: aspect of the story, but that there is a lot
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  Speaker 1: of pressure on the police and that our officers are
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  Speaker 1: juggling a lot at the moment, particularly with COVID as well.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure that that's something that you know, you've experienced
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  Speaker 1: in terms of doing the rosters and making sure that
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  Speaker 1: you've got god officers doing you know, doing all the
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  Speaker 1: jobs that they're required to do, but with those additional
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  Speaker 1: expectations in terms of the borders and and COVID expectations.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, Katie. Look, COVID has turned everyone's world upside down,
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  Speaker 3: and you know there is a you know, community emotion
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  Speaker 3: about you know, we're all fearful and apprehensive and doing
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  Speaker 3: the right thing twelve months ago and now it's it's
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  Speaker 3: a case of let's just get it over and done with.
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  Speaker 3: And I think we all feel that way and police
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  Speaker 3: force is no different. But you know, we do have
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  Speaker 3: people dedicated to COVID. As you know, we're also rapidly recruiting.
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  Speaker 3: So we've we've lent some people to the college to
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  Speaker 3: help out with that course. And you know, into the future,
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  Speaker 3: we're going to have to look at our leave management
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  Speaker 3: as well, because we did have a leave cap last year,
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  Speaker 3: and so leave becomes a contingent liability from a management perspective,
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  Speaker 3: and you know, we're going to have to work to
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  Speaker 3: reduce that contingent liability over the next couple of years.
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  Speaker 1: So making sure that people are able to have their
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  Speaker 1: leave and able to have their holidays.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, and also reducing our leave liability bearing in
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  Speaker 3: mind that you know, people couldn't take leave as much
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  Speaker 3: leave as they wanted last year because of the demand
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  Speaker 3: for services. So yeah, it's a challenge into the future.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I do want to ask because we know that
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  Speaker 1: there was a number of break ins on Sunday night
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  Speaker 1: and early yesterday morning. We spoke to Shelley, the owner
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  Speaker 1: out there at zicicole i GA. She had said that,
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  Speaker 1: you know, they'd seen in vision in their security vision
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  Speaker 1: young people or what looked like young people get out
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  Speaker 1: of a car I believe allegedly threatened the security guard
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  Speaker 1: with a hammer. Matt, where is that investigation at firstly.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I think we've connected that particular crime to
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  Speaker 3: a crime spree which you know and you've obviously reported
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  Speaker 3: on Fay Bay. I think it's the same people, right.
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  Speaker 3: We actually have some fairly positive leads and we're looking
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  Speaker 3: for at least two people at the moment, so watch
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  Speaker 3: this space.
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  Speaker 1: So well, that's good to hear that. Obviously the police
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  Speaker 1: working really quickly. But yeah, we do know that it
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  Speaker 1: was the Zicolea I ga. We also got told the
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  Speaker 1: cool spot there at Fanny Bay, the bakery there at
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  Speaker 1: Fanny Bay. I'm not sure whether there were other businesses
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  Speaker 1: at Fanny Bay, but it is just I guess the
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  Speaker 1: heartbreaking thing is the impulse on those businesses and the
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  Speaker 1: ongoing impulst, you know, for people that are breaking in
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  Speaker 1: for a bloody tip jar. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Look, you know, my sympathies go to those and our
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  Speaker 3: thoughts go to those businesses. I know the Shelly Lay
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  Speaker 3: she's been a repeat victim. We've visited her on a
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  Speaker 3: number of occasions, and you know, we've since deployed a
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  Speaker 3: CCTV trailer to assist with the security at Zacholi. But again,
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  Speaker 3: you know, it was a small spree and obviously they're
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  Speaker 3: very public crimes and it does affect people's perception of crime,
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  Speaker 3: and we're working pretty hard to nip this one in
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  Speaker 3: the but as soon as we can, Matt, do you.
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  Speaker 1: Know if we'd also had reports yesterday on the show
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  Speaker 1: that's the stone house I believe in the city it
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  Speaker 1: had bottles of wine stolen and the deck bar I
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  Speaker 1: think it also had some damage as well. Do you
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  Speaker 1: believe that they're related to or are they separate ones?
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  Speaker 3: Look, they're separate. We I think the depth may have
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  Speaker 3: been done again last night and we've got somebody in
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  Speaker 3: custody for that, and so you know, as far as
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  Speaker 3: we can tell, they were our itinerants that we're looking
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  Speaker 3: for alcohol. But it's kind of unusual to get too
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  Speaker 3: series on the same no ye, So yeah, it's certainly
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  Speaker 3: not helpful and doesn't help people's perceptions of crime.
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  Speaker 1: So the ones in the city believed to be separate
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  Speaker 1: to the ones that happened in Fanny Bay and also
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  Speaker 1: out there in Palmerston. But what do we think, Like,
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  Speaker 1: I know you can't go into a huge amount of detail,
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  Speaker 1: and there's still an investigation underway, but do we think
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  Speaker 1: that someone stolen a car and then gone or you know,
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  Speaker 1: like sort of done the rounds.
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  Speaker 3: In the Zakoli and Fanny Boy one. Yeah, that's that's
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  Speaker 3: that's what we're working on at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So two people that you've got a very close
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  Speaker 1: eye on at this point and hoping they.
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  Speaker 3: Keeping looking for Yeah, we don't have an on them yet,
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  Speaker 3: but we will.
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  Speaker 1: You're looking for them? Is there anything? So I guess
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  Speaker 1: a call out to our listeners, is there anything in
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  Speaker 1: particular we need or that we're chasing him for? On?
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  Speaker 3: Look, if community is our eyes and ears, so you know,
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  Speaker 3: you know your neighborhood. Do you know what's not right
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  Speaker 3: in your neighborhood? And if you if you come across
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  Speaker 3: something that's not right, give us a call. And the
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  Speaker 3: other thing is that you know this is not victim
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  Speaker 3: blaming in any way, shape or form, but just please
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  Speaker 3: take care of your own personal security in terms of
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  Speaker 3: locking your house at night time, and please please please
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  Speaker 3: don't leave your car keys on the kitchen bench or
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  Speaker 3: somewhere obvious in your house in the in the if
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  Speaker 3: you're unfortunate enough to have an intruder on your premises.
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  Speaker 3: But again, it's not about victim blaming. You know, your
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  Speaker 3: home is your castle, but it's just be security aware.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, be mindful that there are people out there who
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  Speaker 1: are prepared to get inside your home and try and
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  Speaker 1: find your keys, so don't make it easy for them.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. And look, you know that's one thing that we
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  Speaker 3: want to try and you know, we want to get
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  Speaker 3: ahead of the game in terms of preventing crime as
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  Speaker 3: opposed to responding to it. But that is a key
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  Speaker 3: thing as to how the community can help us is
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  Speaker 3: to not make it easy for the naughty the bad
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  Speaker 3: few that are out there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Matt hollandby the commander of the Darwin Region,
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  Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time this morning and I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: we'll talk to you again. So always a pleasure, Katie,
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  Speaker 1: thank you,